


Zhu Zhengting Approved

by HinoKahoko



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 乐华七子NEXT | NEX7, 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Alternate Universe - Jane Austen Fusion, Dachang Boys: Friendship is Magic, F/M, M/M, Romance, mild cursing here and there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-01-14 16:50:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 58,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18480340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HinoKahoko/pseuds/HinoKahoko
Summary: “Zeren’s next.”“Hmm?” Wenjun hummed absentmindedly.“I’m gonna fix Zeren up with someone next.”“You just said that he has a boyfriend!”“Yeah, a boyfriend he barely even talks about!” Zhengting scoffed dismissively. “He can do better and I’ll make him do better!”“Or perhaps Zeren knows you and your tendency to micromanage our private lives and doesn’t want you to scare him away?” Wenjun quipped up.“Watch your words, Bi Wenjun! I know you are just jealous that I’m not fixing YOU up with someone!”Zhengting has way too much money and empty bedrooms on his hands, so he decides to go on a one-man mission to approve the lives of everyone around him. Will he succeed on this quest or will he just make everything worse? And who’s actually taking care of him? Or a modern version of Jane Austen’s Emma which literally no one asked for.





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> I started out with the intention of writing a humorous one-shot for Zhengting's birthday by loosely modernizing Jane Austen's funniest novel, Emma. And here I am, a month late with a 60k words long monster baby.
> 
> I should warn you that I know basically nothing about how the fashion industry works. What you can read here is mostly from google searches and that one season of Project Runway I binged on Netflix as "research".
> 
> Second warning is that the title can be misleading, the story doesn't have much to do with the series on YouTube I just literally had no idea what to name the story.
> 
> Enjoy! And Happy Birthday to Zhengting a month later! XD

The studio apartment had a small bedroom secluded with a folding wall and a tiny open-floor concept living area with minimal furniture and plain white walls, but Dinghao’s and Xinchun’s expressions were shining so bright as they happily showed every nook and corner of it to Zhengting as if it was the Imperial Palace.

“The ceiling is quite high, so we were thinking about building a loft for a bedroom eventually. And yeah, we really want to remodel the kitchen to have a bigger stove and more counter space, and a paint job is seriously needed once we have the money for it, but otherwise we are very happy about it,” Dinghao said, his smile outshining the sun. He looked at Xinchun tenderly. “We’re ready to start our life here together.”

Quanzhe had pretended to vomit as he plopped himself down on the couch, which was an achievement itself, since the tiny settee had already been holding Justin and Chengcheng who seemed to be in an intense wrestling match with said furniture.

Xinchun looked back at Dinghao warmly, the adoration in his eyes rivalling his boyfriend’s, now proud co-home owner’s. And then they both turned towards Zhengting. Ignoring the fact that two of his other house guests were breaking a havoc around their brand-new couch, jumping on it and throwing the pillows around, Xinchun looked at the older boy’s eyes asking earnestly, “So… What do you think, Zhengting-ge?”

_That this whole place is not as big as your room in my apartment._

A small cough broke the anticipatory silence from behind the couple. Wenjun - who had pretended to be completely invested in the interesting yellow stains on the ceiling - let it out as if to warn Zhengting, who resisted the urge to roll his eyes in response. Did he think he is that bad to criticize any of this out loud?

“This is wonderful!” he said with a radiant smile on his face, lunging forward and enveloping the two boys in a huge hug.

The warm moment was interrupted by Justin. “Xinchun ge, what is your wi-fi password?”

Xinchun sighed tiredly.

“Are we going to eat or do I have to starve here?” Chengcheng asked, completely erasing the atmosphere of the previous moment.

Zhengting smiled fondly at his boys on the couch.

“I’m buying,” he said pulling out his phone. “Let’s have this house-warming party started, shall we?”

 

They didn’t have enough space on the couch and the chairs, but that didn’t discourage them from having fun. Wenjun and Zhengting volunteered to sit on the floor, a blanket folded under them to keep them warm.

“Dinghao ge, why aren’t your friends here?” Chengcheng asked while munching on a skewer enthusiastically.

“They couldn’t make it. Maotong and Zhixie are still studying for their exams, Jingzuo is on a date and Ruotian went to visit his family. And Chaoze flew to Beijing, he is helping Zhangjing move here.”

“Zhangjing?” Wenjun quipped up in surprise. He put down his noodles to place an additional blanket over himself and Zhengting. The older was grateful: the apartment’s floor heating needed to be fixed otherwise the couple would freeze to death in the upcoming winter. “As in You Zhangjing? I didn’t know you know him, that’s awesome!”

“Sure, he has been my friend since we were little children, we’re still close and have a bunch of friends in common. Have you met him?”

“Of course, I did!” Wenjun nodded enthusiastically. “I wore his designs on a runway a few months ago. I mean, not his designs since it’s officially for Gucci, but he was the one basically running the show.”

“Yeah, Gucci transferred him to the Shanghai division here, he was promoted,” Dinghao nodded. “I’ll mention you to him next time he calls. He already really wants to meet you, Zhengting. He would really like to collab with your label too.”

Zhengting stuffed a dumpling in his mouth so he wouldn’t have to answer, nodding politely. He knew about You Zhangjing, of course and it wasn’t just because Wenjun couldn’t stop raving about the talented young designer he met.

“I would be glad to meet him,” Zhengting forced himself to say eventually. “It would be nice to have some insight into a large international label, if I am thinking of expanding mine.”

“So, this guy, Zhangjing is a designer at Gucci?” Quanzhe asked.

Dinghao nodded, “He was an assistant designer for the label in Beijing.”

“Zheng ge, haven’t you been up for that job as well?” Chengcheng asked. Zhengting froze, but he still noticed Wenjun sending the younger boy a murderous look. It worked: Chengcheng went silent with a guilty expression on his face. Slowly, Xinchun seemed to realize what was the problem with the direction of this conversation and quickly changed the subject.

“Speaking of your friends, you said Yanjun would be visiting soon, didn’t you?” he turned towards a confused Dinghao, who didn’t seem to understand what just happened. A nonverbal conversation with a promise of “I’ll explain later” went on between the couple and Dinghao snapped back, suddenly smirking.

“Oh yeah. He said he would be in the city for a few weeks. He has some business here and he would love to meet all of you,” he told the room.  He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, “He said he’s considering a permanent move here, if he finds something to anchor him to Shanghai.”

“He’s pretty awesome and funny,” Xinchun nodded. “You guys will love him.”

Wenjun huffed but said nothing. Zhengting met his gaze for a short a moment and he could tell that they were thinking the same thing.

“Now, that’s someone I would like to see for myself,” he stated. “Ever since you came back from your holiday in Taiwan, we can’t hear anything else from the two of you just how awesome this Yanjun is.”

“Yeah, somehow your Yanjun stories always end up… interesting,” Justin chuckled. “For all we know, this Lin Yanjun is funny, smart, handsome, insanely rich, with a perfectly sculpted body. This last bit of information was a little bit disturbing to hear from both of you, mind you.”

“Yeah, and he is probably wonderful with kids and in his free-time, he saves puppies from animal shelters.” Chengcheng rolled his eyes.

“And volunteers with orphans and homeless people,” Quanzhe laughed out loud. He sighed over-dramatically. “If he moves from Taipei, the whole city will fall into an endless black pit of depression!”

The guests all fallen into fits of laughter. Xinchun just sighed tiredly.

“All right, I get it!” he exclaimed. “We might have been exaggerating a little bit about him, but I really-really think that you will love him.” Xinchun had tried really hard not to ogle Zhengting’s reaction to his sentence, but maybe he was trying a little bit too hard. Zhengting didn’t understand why he was acting like this, so he dismissed it.

“We know, we’re just teasing you, ge!” Quanzhe calmed Xinchun. “Besides, this description sounds exactly how people with too much money and no life spend their free time, nothing unusual there.”

“You clearly don’t know many uber-rich people, Quanzhe,” Justin quipped, shaking his head. “You should really meet my parents, it would be educational for you!”

“Well, I know you and Zhengting ge! You don’t have your own money yet, but this is exactly what Zheng ge always does!” Quanzhe defended himself.

“Oi!” Zhengting exclaimed. “I am not an uber rich person who doesn’t have a life.”

“Ge, we live in a huge, luxurious penthouse in the best area of the city that you inherited from your uncle and you charge us no rent,” Quanzhe deadpanned.

“Well, could you afford paying rent?” Zhengting asked.

“No, but that’s what I’m saying!” the younger boy explained. “I would practically be a homeless person!”

“And where are your dogs from exactly?” Xinchun asked, smirking fondly at his ge.

Okay, Zhengting had started to see their point.

“Rescued from a breeder farm,” he admitted under his nose.

“And your charity event for children in need last month is still the talk of the town,” Wenjun added, slurping the end of his noodles. Zhengting looked at him in disbelief.

“Et tu, Wenjun?”

“Relax!” Wenjun held out his hands to calm his best friend. “It’s okay to admit you are a privileged, rich guy, we’re just saying that you are very good at being a privileged, rich guy.”

“Yeah, ge! You rock privileged rich guy!” Chengcheng agreed, laughing.

"Except when you are acting petty and just won't get a damn maid..." Justin said, rolling his eyes.

"We are not getting a maid!" Zhengting stated firmly as he always did when his roommates broached the subject. "Xinchun might have moved out, but there are still four people living in my apartment rent-free. It won't hurt either of you, if you have to clean up your own mess.

“Anyway, that’s exactly why we think you would get along with Yanjun!” Dinghao segwayed back to their case in point not so smoothly, not letting Justin argue back.

“All right, I see what you mean,” Zhengting dismissed them. “When is he arriving here, next week? I’ll have a party then for Wenjun and Zeren’s birthdays. Bring him around, that will be a good excuse for him to meet everyone.”

 

“So…” Wenjun slithered up to him, sneaking an arm around his neck as they walked towards the exit of the apartment complex to their cars, a few hours and many beers later. The younger boys were walking ahead of them, breaking the night-time silence of the residential area. Zhengting and Wenjun just ignored them. “Am I getting a trademarked Zhu Zhengting party of Awesomeness on my birthday? Am I getting a cake as well? I love your cakes. I’m allowed a cheat day on my diet for your cake on my birthday.”

“You?” Zhengting scoffed, raising an eyebrow. “The party is for Zeren, I’m just taking pity on you and add your name in a small font to the banner.” Despite the teasing tone Zhengting grabbed onto Wenjun’s arm and pressed closer to his best friend. It was a chilly November night and Zhengting knew Wenjun wouldn’t mind.

“So, Zeren is your new favourite, I see. Where is he tonight anyway? I thought he would be here as well for the house-warming.”

“He’s on a date. Again.” Zhengting sighed. “I swear, this is starting to get serious with this boy, yet he wouldn’t introduce him to us or tell us anything!”

“And yet, he deserves the party more than me. You wound me.”

“The parties of awesomeness only go to people who are actually awesome and not come up with ridiculous excuses to why they don’t want to live with me.”

Wenjun huffed quietly with a small smile on his face.

“I love my apartment, you know that. But you have been knowing that ever since you moved here three years ago and you’re still hung up on this issue, so I’m not going to argue with you about it again,” he said. “And what about Xinchun now? He moved out. Are his awesome privileges revoked as well?”

Zhengting groaned. Wenjun chuckled knowingly.

“It’s okay,” he nudged the elder softly at his side. “Let it out, it’s only me here to hear you.”

“This was definitely not what I imagined for him when I fixed him up with Dinghao! That apartment is mouldy and I’m pretty sure it’s not just the two of them living there! I thought they would stay a little bit longer, at least until Xinchun gets his promotion at work then they would have been able to afford a better place! It’s not like Dinghao couldn’t have moved into the penthouse as well until then, if they wanted to live together so desperately.”

“You fixed them up?” Wenjun echoed doubtfully.

“Of course!” Zhengting exclaimed. “Who introduced them? And who fixed up fake excuses for them to see each other and extra opportunities when Dinghao was too shy to ask Xinchun out, huh? I knew they were perfect for each other. They just needed a little push towards the right direction and the rest is history.”

“Of course,” Wenjun chuckled. “And you immediately knew this would work out.”

“Obviously. I am an extremely good judge of character,” Zhengting declared. “Look at those three!” he said, motioning towards the boys walking ahead of them. “Who encouraged Justin to come to Shanghai because he knew that he would live up to his potential here and he would be able to study what he wants without his parents controlling every decision he makes? I did, and he’s happier than I had ever seen him before. And I’d known him since birth!”

“That has more to do with the fact that he’s dating Chengcheng I think.”

“And who do you think arranged that? You were there, you had seen me doing it!” He still remembered when he first met the timid little pianist boy accompanying his big sister to the fashion show organized by Zhengting’s label. He instantly fell for the young boy and wanted nothing more than to introduce him to his Justin: he just had to offer a room in the penthouse, saying that his home is closer to the conservatory Chengcheng attended and he needs roommates anyway to lighten up that huge old apartment. Chengcheng agreed and Zhengting felt justified again, when he had seen how quickly the two boys clicked and Justin brought out a completely new side from the older boy within minutes of their acquaintance.

Zhengting’s fond gaze wandered towards the third boy, his little baby. Despite the fact that Quanzhe was older than Justin, the eldest of them all had a tendency to think of Quanzhe as more of a child than the actual youngest. He summoned his memories of the little hamster sitting at the café bar on the stool next to Zhengting going through housing ads frustratedly. As it turned out that because of some administrative mistake Quanzhe was moved out of his dormitory after freshmen year and he was desperate to find an affordable apartment in a very short time. Zhengting immediately decided to take in the young boy and he had been his baby ever since, even though three years had passed since then. Quanzhe was a grown-ass adult already, but Zhengting feared the day when he would actually start dating someone seriously. Maybe if he would find someone suitable for him, he would have a better chance at letting him go?

But that was not the next point on his itinerary.

“Zeren’s next,” he declared to Wenjun, who had seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. It seemed the best course of action to him. Zeren had a good job as a photographer for Zhengting’s company with other occasional commissions here and there. His professional life was stable and rising: he should have the same success in his private life too.

“Hmm?” Wenjun hummed absentmindedly.

“I’m gonna fix Zeren up with someone next.”

“You just said that he has a boyfriend!”

“Yeah, a boyfriend he barely even talks about!” Zhengting scoffed dismissively. “He can do better and I’ll make him do better!”

“Or perhaps, Zeren knows you and your tendency to micromanage our private lives and doesn’t want you to scare him away?” Wenjun quipped up.

“Watch your words, Bi Wenjun! I know you are just jealous that I’m not fixing YOU up with someone!” Zhengting pouted, poking the side of Wenjun’s head playfully. “For example, this… You Zhangjing? Do you like him or what?”

Wenjun stayed silent and looked down. Zhengting could swear he was blushing.

“Aw! Look at that! You leave me here for months for this job in Beijing and you come back as a completely new person! Is the cool and handsome Bi Wenjun a little schoolboy with a crush now?”

Wenjun stopped and looked down on a chuckling Zhengting for a long moment and shrugged.

“Nah,” he said. “He just reminded me of someone I’m very fond of and I got a little interested. That’s all it is. We hung out sometimes, when I got tired of all the baby-talk in my brother’s house.”

Zhengting pouted.

“You’re lucky!” he said, inserting his elbow into Wenjun’s ribs maybe a little too forcefully. “I miss my sister so much and you have been seeing them all the time. You already have a bond with my little niece and I don’t!”

“First of all, it’s _our_ little _nephew_ , because I’m sure the baby will be a boy. And second, how do I even have a bond with a baby that wasn’t even born yet? Don’t worry, the moment he will lay eyes on his uncle Zhengting, you’ll be his favourite person in the world! They’re spending the Chinese New Year here with you, aren’t they? There’s a big chance the baby will be born here in Shanghai, you’ll get your bonding time then!”

Zhengting smiled up at his friend softly.

“I missed you, you know,” he admitted. Zhengting had a hard time admitting even to himself how much he missed the taller's never-wavering presence from his side for those few months and how happy he was that finally he was back. But it was Wenjun and he needed to hear it no matter how Zhengting struggled with actually saying it.

It was interesting really, how the model had become an irreplaceable presence in his life. Zhengting couldn’t even imagine how he would have gone through everything that happened in the past if he hadn’t met him five years ago on that fateful wedding.

“I missed you too, Zhengzheng,” Wenjun told him, smiling back.

“Hey, grandpas! Hurry up, we want to go home already!” Chengcheng yelled at them as the younger ones gathered around Zhengting’s car, waiting to get inside.

Wenjun sighed.

“Will you be alright driving home?” he asked concerned.

“Sure, we didn’t drink that much, and I have the others to keep me alert,” Zhengting told him. “But you should be careful! Text me when you’re home, OK?”

“OK, mom!” Wenjun laughed, Zhengting hit him. “Seriously, don’t worry! I won’t go to bed without saying good night to you.”

“That’s my Xiao Jun!” Zhengting cooed while patting Wenjun’s face, who rolled his eyes in response. He should have known that he would regret letting Zhengting talk to his mom, because the designer thought there’s nothing more hilarious than calling the almost two-meter tall supermodel on his childhood nickname. “When will we see you again?”

“I am dressing up in your Christmas Collection, weren’t you the one to hire me?”

“Uhm… I might have been?” Zhengting said unsure. “There was a lot going on last month in the Sales Department, I haven’t been paying much attention to Design.”

“It’s alright, at least I know I wasn’t hired only because we’re family. So, see you at lunch tomorrow?”

“I will try to make some time then! Good night, Wenjun!”

“Good night Zhengzheng!”

“Good night Wenjun ge!” The other three chorused from Zhengting’s car.

“Good night, guys!” Wenjun answered startled as if he had forgotten that the others were there with them as well. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly as Zhengting got into the driver’s seat and pulled out with his car from the parking lot. He could still see him standing there as he looked back in his mirror, looking at their car speeding away. Zhengting just scoffed.

Such a worrywart.

 

“Zhengting! The new photographer is here,” Cheng Xiao, his HR director called out to him the next morning as he was going through the latest sales reports from the department stores in Shenzen.

“Ah, really? That’s wonderful!” Zhengting smiled. “Come in, come in!”

The moment Cheng Xiao had led the young man into his office, Zhengting was up and around his table to greet him.

“Cai Xukun! I’m so glad you decided to join our family!” he greeted, extending a hand out to him.

“Well, I have to admit, I didn’t expect a meeting with the CEO of the company on my very first day, sir!” Xukun said blushing as he shook Zhengting’s hand.

“Ugh, no sirs in here!” Zhengting dismissed him. “Yuehua Fashion is a small company, everyone is on a first name basis. Call me Zhengting!”

“All right, Zhengting!” Xukun said, suddenly realizing he was still squeezing Zhengting’s hand. “Sorry, I just heard a lot of good things about this place. And you, of course. I guess I’m a little overwhelmed.”

“Really? I didn’t realize that our company is that famous! And it should be me who is overwhelmed, I am a huge fan of your work! I follow you on social media, I have been on your exhibits. I even have one of your pictures!”

“Really? Which one?”

“It was from your Motherhood collection on the Clean Water Foundation Auction last year. I love it! It’s hanged in my dining room.”

“Yes, I was really proud of those. Wow!” Xukun sighed out, his eyes sparkling as he was just taking in Zhengting standing in front of him. “I can’t believe that THE Zhu Zhengting has one of them.”

Zhengting blushed deeply over the compliment. He didn’t know he was that well-known.

“Well, good art needs to be appreciated properly. When I heard you want to branch into fashion photography, I just knew that I need to have you!”

“Thank you for the opportunity, I really hope that I won’t disappoint you much. I love photographing people and clothes, but I usually focus on the emotions of the people not the fabric itself. This will be a challenge.”

“You have nothing to worry about. Our team is very good here, have you been introduced to them?”

“Ah, not yet,” Cheng Xiao interrupted. “We thought we would come to see you first, see if you have time to join us for the tour.”

Zhengting looked at his watch.

“You can go back to work, Cheng Xiao. I’m heading down to Design anyway to talk to Ziyi and my lunch break is starting soon. I’ll accompany Xukun there.”

 

After a brief introduction to the head of the Design Department, Wang Ziyi - who was just about to call Zhengting to come down and see the correction of the new designs based on his comments before it was sent over to Purchase - had jovially showed an awed Xukun their newest works, the two even started exchanging ideas about how it would be the best way to capture it in a photo. Zhengting smiled to himself: he knew Xukun would be a great addition to the team.

“Oh sorry!” Ziyi chuckled. “We got over our heads very quickly. What do you think, Zhengzheng? Do you like it?”

The head of Design looked over his boss sheepishly despite the usage of the friendly nickname. Ziyi had been working for Yuehua since he was an intern while still in college and he was one of the biggest help for Zhengting back in the day, three years ago, when out of nowhere, Zhengting had to come over here from Beijing to become everyone’s boss with barely any experience in management. Not to mention that many of the more experienced staff the company had had left during the transition, leaving the new CEO with a skeleton crew. In the end, Ziyi’s promotion to head of the Design Department seemed evident. It took Zhengting months of blood, sweat and tears to build the company back from its ruins, but he couldn’t give up: Yuehua Fashion had been his uncle’s life’s work, his legacy. He couldn’t live with himself if he would have let it fade into nothing. It was really hard indeed, but eventually the legacy was restored and more, and Zhengting had made sure that those who stayed loyal to the company had been sufficiently rewarded.

And if Wang Ziyi had occasionally provided some… private support to his new CEO as well, that had nothing to do with their professional relationship.

“Hey, you don’t get to judge me!” Zhengting once told to a scandalized Wenjun who had just gotten this detail out of him after some elongated begging. “It’s not like he’s my boyfriend! Emotions! Now, that would be a problem! This is just stress relief and has no effect on our work whatsoever!”

“But you’re his boss!” Wenjun argued. “This is taking advantage of him!”

“It’s not like I was the one that started it, it was him!”

“Then he is the one taking advantage of you!”

“It’s not like that, Ziyi wouldn’t use me. You know that, you know us!”

“Yes, I do,” Wenjun agreed. “But what if someone who doesn’t know you hears about it, huh?  They would either think that you expect certain favours from people to keep their job and undermine your credibility or they would think that the only reason you promoted him is because you two are screwing around and that would undermine his credibility. Either way, one of you will come out of this damaged if not the both of you. I know you two are very discreet and everything, but it will come out eventually and you know that. You have to stop it!”

“All right, all right! I’ll stop it with him. Look at you! Bi Wenjun, the human conscience who wants me to go celibate.”

“I didn’t say you cannot have sex with anyone, I’m just saying that you shouldn’t have sex with people you pay!” Wenjun cried out in the end, maybe a little louder than he should have considering how Zhengting still remembered the scandalized face of the young woman at the next table.

Zhengting also remembered rolling his eyes at that. Considering that at the time, he had known no one and nothing other than his work, it was basically a vow of celibacy. But alas, Zhengting had yielded and those very satisfying and relaxing nights had stopped years ago, though their friendship stayed intact.

Back to present, Zhengting patted Ziyi on the back.

“I trust you, Ziyi, you know that. The designs look wonderful, I’ll go this afternoon and congratulate the team, you all worked very hard on this!” he reassured his design director. “But first let’s introduce Xukun to Zeren. They will be the ones working together after all.”

“I can do that for you…” Ziyi started, but Zhengting dismissed it.

“I am having lunch with him and Wenjun anyway, maybe you two can join us?”

 

Lunch was great. And even better than Zhengting expected it to be.

Xukun and Zeren instantly clicked, talking about their previous jobs enthusiastically, sharing tips and anecdotes about famous photographers and models they had worked with before. Xukun had yet to have a chance to work with Wenjun and the two seemed a little tense at first, but he was sure that they would warm up to each other soon enough. Wenjun was always shy with strangers.

By the end of lunch, Zhengting’s mind was made up. He went ahead and invited Xukun to the party next week.

“Zeren’s birthday is on Thursday and Wenjun’s is on Saturday, so the party is on Friday,” he explained.

“Yes, it will be fun, you should join!” Zeren nodded eagerly. “Ziyi ge will also be there, right?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Ziyi smiled.

“All right! It’s a party then!” Xukun said.

When they arrived back to the lobby, Wenjun gave Zhengting a look.

“What?” he asked.

“No. Just no,” Wenjun shook his head.

“Why not?”

“Let him date Yanchen in peace.”

“Who the hell is Yanchen?”

“The guy Zeren’s seeing.”

“You know him! What the hell?”

“I asked him about it this morning!”

“He told you when he wouldn’t tell me anything? Huh!” Zhengting had to admit he felt a little offended.

 

“Why did you tell about your boyfriend to Wenjun and not me?” was the first question out of Zhengting’s mouth when he got home that night and met the younger in the kitchen.

“He’s not my boyfriend yet,” Zeren said.

“But still!” Zhengting exclaimed. “You hang out with him a lot nowadays and you still didn’t tell me anything about him, this is almost like a crime, I’m telling you.”

“I just didn’t want you to get your hopes up,” Zeren admitted quietly. “You can be very… weird about this stuff.”

“Oh, come on!” Zhengting nagged. “At least tell me something about him! It’s like you have this secret life I don’t even know anything about! It’s killing me!”

Zeren burst out laughing.

“You’re not over-dramatic at all, ge!” he said between chuckles. “All right. What do you want to know about him?”

“Name?”

“Zhou Yanchen.”

“Yanchen. Hmm... Do I know him?”

“No.”

“And what’s he like?”

Zeren smiled fondly.

“He is amazing,” Zeren sighed out softly. Zhengting just smiled at him knowingly. “He is super funny, I laugh so much with him and he is incredibly kind and would go into fire for his friends... He is kinda like you, a little bit in that aspect. But much sexier, of course.”

“Hey!” Zhengting yelled out indignantly while Zeren just cackled. “How did you meet him?”

“He works at the garage I always take my car for a tune-up.”

“So, he’s a mechanic? Is he still in school or he wants to stay a mechanic?”

Zeren looked at the older sharply. He pointed a finger at him in warning.

“See? That’s the face I wanted to avoid!”

“What face? I have a face?”

“Yes, you have this elitist face! Just because Yanchen doesn’t have an office job he is not any less than you and me!” Zhengting backed off a little.

“Woah!” he said. “First of all, when did I ever say that mechanics are not people? If you like him and he likes you, then what complaint can I have? None!”

Zeren fell silent at that, shifting on his feet uncomfortably. Of course, Zhengting was right. This secrecy wasn’t about him, but Zeren’s own doubts.

“What’s wrong? Zeren, baby...”

“I’m not entirely sure that he likes me as well.”

“Bullshit! You two have been on at least a dozen dates in like a month! Not that I was counting. How can he not like you?”

“I... Well, we don’t have that much in common, we are interested in totally different things. I tried to read his favourite book and listen to the music he likes but... You know how I am. I’m not as funny or interesting as he’s. I don’t think I truly caught his eye. He seems... a little distant, as if he doesn’t really want this.”

“Hmm... did he try to do the same for you?” Zhengting asked. Zeren looked at him questioningly. “Read the books you like. Or listen to your favourite music. Is he even interested in photography? It’s just your life’s work! It takes two to make this work.”

“I gave him my pendrive with my favourite songs and he came to see the photos I had up at Xikan’s café. But I don’t want to bore him with all that too much. He is way more interesting than I am, I don’t want him to think it’s not worth it.”

Zhengting raised an eyebrow at that.

“I found it hard to believe that, sorry love,” he shook his head disappointed. “I doubt that anyone would meet you and think that you are boring or not worth trying. And if Yanchen does then he doesn’t deserve you! When do you meet him next?”

“On my birthday. He is buying me dinner.”

“Then make sure he knows what you want and see how he reacts!”

“Oh, believe me if it’s on my accord, I’m staying over at his!” Zeren wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

“Pssht, I am surprised you haven’t sealed the deal yet,” Zhengting scoffed. “I mean, twelve dates in less them four weeks, Zeren. That’s a lot of waiting!”

“Well, not everyone is as easy as you, Zhengzheng,” Zeren stuck his tongue out and bolted from the kitchen before Zhengting could reach for him. Zhengting just shook his head: he couldn’t believe he was getting shamed in his own house.

“Zhengzheng! I’m glad you came around, I wanted to talk to you for ages!” Yanlei’s voice boomed over the whole café the moment the door jingled to indicate Zhengting’s entrance.

Saturdays were supposed to be about swimming at his favourite pool and relaxing at his apartment, but this morning, he literally had to force Justin and Chengcheng to sit down in a fair distance apart from each other to study for their rapidly approaching midterms. Quanzhe had been so stressed about his own exams and the fact that the evil couple didn’t even care to sit down silently had made the situation worse. Not being able to relax at all, Zhengting decided to walk over for a bubble tea, leaving the three boys to their own devices. Zhengting knew the moment he left the house they would be back in front of the PC again to play, but he felt just a little glimmer of hope that they would at least be considerate towards the third boy.

Maverick’s is situated right next to his home and it was owned by a friend of theirs, Xikan. Unfortunately, he had forgotten who would be certainly in there. Xikan’s favourite barista and aspiring entrepreneur, Dong Yanlei had always had a stupid business idea that he wanted Zhengting to invest in.

“I was trying to reach you, but I couldn’t, is something wrong with your phone?” the barista asked while fiddling with the plastic cups.

“Ah, sorry! I have a new phone and I didn’t save all the numbers I had yet, I didn’t know it was you!” Zhengting lied.

“Oh, no problem, no problem,” Yanlei said scooping toppings into the cup. Zhengting grimaced: he was alright with tapioca bubbles, but it was way too much for his taste. “I just wanted to tell you that I have found a building for the restaurant.”

“Oh really? That’s great! Is the rent affordable?”

“Rent? Oh no, I am buying the building!” Zhengting’s eyebrow disappeared behind his hairline. With what money?

Yanlei must have understood what he wanted to say because he was quick to explain.

“I’m selling my shares in TGM, it was so high in the last quarter, I would get a bunch of money for it, it would be enough to buy the whole building. But I kind of need advice on how to get further investors because it is kind of a rundown. Good location, close to Nanjing Road, but it was neglected for long. Do you have some time now? Can I give you company while you drink this?”

Zhengting momentarily panicked: he didn’t want to go back to the house so soon to the stressed-out students, but he most certainly didn’t want to talk about the stock market on a Saturday afternoon with Dong Yanlei. He knew no broker in their right mind would let Yanlei sell his interest in TGM, so the whole conversation would be completely pointless anyway. Come to think of it, Zhengting didn’t even know how on Earth Yanlei ended up with shares from the most rapidly growing online webshop for luxury fashion items in the country. Most of Yuehua Fashion’s online revenue comes from sales through that site and it was expanding exponentially every year. Getting out of it this early would be a sin, but he also knew that Yanlei wanted nothing more for years now than open his restaurant, so he didn’t want to give a bad advice or influence the boy too much.

“Actually, sorry I can’t,” Zhengting said, quickly trying to think of something. “I am late for a date.”

“A date?” Yanlei asked confused taking in his appearance. Shit, Zhengting thought. He should have thought this through a little more, considering he was without makeup, wearing crocs with sweatpants and a baggy, threadbare t-shirt under his winter coat.

“Yeah, I don’t want to intimidate him too much, with dressing up fancy, it’s a new tactic. Loves me at my worst, loves me at my best, right? But he has been waiting for me for a long time, so...”

“And you still came in to get a bubble tea for yourself?”

Why did this guy decide to be this insightful right now?

“Oh, I didn’t say? My date is here with...” he quickly turned, looking around the café to find someone. He spotted a guy at one of the booths sitting alone scrolling through his phone, he seemed around their age and good looking enough: Zhengting had a reputation to uphold after all. “Him. Sorry, Yanlei!”

He bolted away from the counter and slipped into the booth opposite to the guy, smiling his widest smile. The guy looked up, taking in Zhengting’s appearance, his eyes lingering on his messy hair and the t-shirt that was basically falling off his shoulder (it probably belonged to Chengcheng, if Zhengting came to think of it: the boy went through a brief exercise-spree a few months ago, making all his clothes way too wide in the shoulders) and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“Hello…” Zhengting greeted the man loudly and quickly scanned the scribble on the coffee cup in his hands. “Yankai! I’m sorry for being late, have you been waiting long?”

The man’s scrutinizing gaze – now that Zhengting was looking at him more closely, he was more than just relatively handsome, really: he started to feel sorry that he didn’t meet him on a better day – had wandered towards Yanlei suspiciously and back, starting to understand the situation.

“What’s going on?” he asked quietly. His voice was deep and velvety: it certainly did things to the other man. Gosh, he needed to get laid soon, it had been ages!

“Please, help me out!” Zhengting pleaded, tilting his head slightly towards the counter. “He thinks I am on a date!”

The guy – Yankai – seemed to understand and his expression changed. His face morphed into a sweet smile, his eyes sparkling and was that a dimple? Wow, this dude was ridiculously attractive! He put down his cup and scooted closer to Zhengting, taking the straw and the cup out of Zhengting’s hand stabbing it like an expert. He smiled at Zhengting again offering the straw for him to take a sip. Zhengting blushed and sheepishly accepted.

“It’s alright, Baby,” he said, raising his voice. He winked at Zhengting, reaching out a hand to flatten the boy’s dishevelled hair. “You’re worth the wait, believe me.”

Zhengting risked a glance towards the counter only to see Yanlei winking at him with a smirk and a thumbs-up, while turning away to clean the counter. The young CEO let out a relieved smile and looked at his companion who was still holding his bubble tea cup obediently.

“Thank you,” Zhengting mumbled, blushing like a tomato, taking the beverage from his hand. He chuckled nervously. “You saved me from hours of boredom.”

Yankai looked at Zhengting in wonder, a happy smile making his face lit up sweetly.

“Shanghai is certainly an interesting place,” he declared, locking his eyes with Zhengting’s.

“You are here in transit?” Zhengting asked, meeting his smile.

“No, I am here for business for some time,” Yankai said. “But I am thinking about coming here more often.”

“Oh, I can only recommend this place. You can always meet interesting people.”

“Well, so far, I have to agree. Is this a local trend, by the way? Do I stand out too much with my attire?” Yankai teased, nodding his head towards Zhengting’s clothes.

Zhengting scowled at him, Yankai laughed.

“I guess you didn’t expect to meet such a gentleman as I am, or else you wouldn’t be dressed like this.”

Zhengting narrowed his eyes astonished. “So, what if I want to dress like this? How do you know this is not my fashion statement?”

“I don’t know. Is it your fashion statement?”

Zhengting laughed out loud.

“No, I live nearby, I just wanted tea. Hence the… “casual wear”.” Zhengting said, making air quotes with his finger. “And saying this is my fashion statement would be a professional suicide, so no thanks!”

“Are you in the industry, then?”

“Yeah, I’m a designer. Why? Are you as well?”

“Meh, more or less. Let’s say it is important for me to know what’s in trend,” Yankai shrugged. “But you, a designer? I wanted to guess model, you certainly have the looks for it.”

Zhengting tilted his head, smiling and sipping his drink.

“Thank you, but I enjoy being behind the scenes more.”

“I’m sure you are wonderful at it.”

“Well, I can’t complain, I am quite successful,” Zhengting winked playfully. Yankai just stared at him for a long minute.

“So, the barista… is he an unwanted suitor or a stubborn ex?” he asked.

“Worse, he wants to talk business” Zhengting admitted.

Yankai hissed, nodding his head empathically.

“The worse type of courting, in my opinion,” he said. “There’re much better things to do with someone’s free time.”

“That’s true. I for myself, am a dancer,” Zhengting chuckled into his tea, trying to scoop a few bubbles stuck on a bottom of the drink.

“Ballroom?”

“Not quite. I used to dance traditional Chinese and modern until high school,” Zhengting told him, not quite sure why. “Nowadays, it’s just the occasional club outing with my friends.”

“Oh, the folly of youth. I’m sure you’re still the life of the party!”

“Of course! I could decide to go pro any minute. Everyone is in complete awe when I start to dance!”

“Naturally! I know the feeling. I used the be in a band in university.”

“A band? Have I heard about it?” Zhengting teased.

“Of course! The pride and joy of Beitou District!” Yankai laughed out ironically.

“Beitou?”

“It’s in Taipei City.”

“Oh! Are you from there?”

“Yep. I’m born and raised Taiwanese.”

“So, what happened with the band?”

“Oh, we were amazing but unfortunately, we split up. I tried to date the vocalist. It was ugly.”

“Understandable,” Zhengting hummed, smirking slightly. “You should never mix business with pleasure! It’s the end of all great enterprises!”

They both ended falling in pits of laughter.

“I have never been in Taipei, I would like to go there one day,” Zhengting wondered dreamily, after they both calmed down. “But I haven’t been in many places, to be honest. Only in Beijing, I was born there. But I couldn’t leave Shanghai in years. My best friend goes around a lot, with him being an actual model and he always tells me the best travel stories. It would be great to go with him once.”

His companion hummed, while Zhengting blushed.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, completely embarrassed. “I don’t know why I told you that, you don’t even know who I am!” he chuckled awkwardly. Yankai looked at him, sipping his coffee and then spoke.

“It’s OK. Maybe that’s why you told me, because I’m stranger,” he tried to reassure Zhengting, smiling at him kindly. He stood suddenly. “I enjoyed this very much, but I have to go now, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, sorry! Of course!” Zhengting said. “Here I am, stalling you with a fake date, huh.”

Yankai laughed and dumped his empty Styrofoam cup in the bin at the next table. He pulled out his phone and suddenly turned towards Zhengting, slightly blushing, rubbing the back of his head with his other hand.

“Maybe if I could have your number, so we could arrange a second fake date?” he asked. “Or a real one?”

Zhengting smiled and took the phone. He just started typing his digits in the dial, when the sudden opening of the café door had startled them out of their little bubble. A tired looking Quanzhe stormed in, grabbing Zhengting’s arm to drag him out of the café.

“Gege, the internet is down, come and fix it or I’ll fail! Hurry!”

“Zhezhe, calm down!” Zhengting tried to stop him, absentmindedly extending the phone in his hands to the surprised owner of it: he took it wordlessly.

“No, you have to hurry. My paper is due in twenty minutes!”

“All right!” Zhengting sighed tiredly. “Let’s go. I told you, you shouldn’t leave it to the last minute!”

With a last smile and a small wave, he said goodbye to his dumbfounded fake date who was staring at his phone that did not contain Zhengting's number.

 

“Are you joking?” Zhengting heard Zeren call out incredulously. He looked towards the other half of the studio where the photographer was packing away his equipment after a tiring photoshoot that went on well into the evening. Zhengting had come down from his office to supervise the end of it once he wrapped up his own work: he knew how prissy and demanding new models can be and Xukun haven’t even been working there a week. He was worried for nothing as it turned out: Zeren was always a pro at handling these situations and Xukun seemed to keep up as well. And considering that the model who had to wait the most was actually Wenjun, they had it quite easy. As he was already there, he decided to wait for his friends to wrap up and leave together: maybe they could still catch a late dinner.

As Wenjun was getting ready, Zhengting sat alone around the dressing area, curiously peeking on the laughing pair of Xukun and Zeren who must have been discussing something hilarious, since they both had been cracking up randomly.

A long, resigned sigh startled him out of his reverie: Wenjun freshly out of the shower was standing behind him in a simple white tee and jeans, his face clean from his usual stage make-up, little drops of water still dripping from his hair to his shoulders.

“You know that there’s absolutely no romantic connection between the two of them whatsoever, right?” he asked, rubbing a towel over his head.

“Because they don’t know each other just yet! Besides, I am heeding your advice, you should be proud. I had a talk with Zeren and I’m not doing anything until this Yanchen has his chance to prove his worth.”

“Oh? And how much time are you willing to give for him?”

“Two days. If he doesn’t make it clear for Zeren that he’s serious about the two of them on his birthday then I’m gonna get those two together over there,” Zhengting turned away from the pair in the studio, towards his friend only to see the lanky giant holding an unplugged hairdryer and pouting. Zhengting just pushed him towards his make-up chair without a word and took the hairdryer out of his hands. “Trust me, have I ever been wrong about these things before.”

Wenjun gave him a long scrutinizing look through the mirror as Zhengting plugged the cord.

“Yeah, you haven’t been. But there’s always a first time and you’ll just hurt Zeren in the end.”

“I won’t!” Zhengting declared and turned on the dryer, effectively halting the conversation. This had been a familiar process whenever the two of them had a chance: Wenjun didn’t trust his own skills with his hair and liked the feeling of Zhengting’s fingers dancing around his scalp and Zhengting himself enjoyed taking care of the younger. The two of them couldn’t even remember when this routine started, but it had been going on for years now.

“By the way,” Zhengting said as turned off the dryer and rested his chin on the top of Wenjun’s head, “Did you invite your friends to the party on Friday? Because you know I was joking the other day, right? This is your party just as much as it is Zeren’s.”

“What friends do I have that won’t be there already?” Wenjun rolled his eyes.

“Oh, come on! I’m sure you have bunch of friends besides us! You are a lovely person. Everyone likes lovely people. Even not so lovely people like lovely people. Look at me, I am a very mean person and I like you and you tolerate me in return. Why? Because you’re lovely!”

“No, you come on, Zhengzheng. You know how I am… I can’t just go and make friends with people that easily.”

“But there must be at least a few! You have been in Beijing for months. Aren’t any of your model friends around Shanghai this weekend? Have you asked Dinghao if Zhangjing could come or not? I want you to enjoy this party!”

“And I can’t do that when I’m with you and the others?” Wenjun raised his eyebrows. Zhengting groaned. “All right, I get it. My friends from Louis Vuitton are back in the city. Ziyang and Ling Chao you already know, and you’re going to love Bu Fan. And actually, no, HR messed something up at Gucci and Zhangjing won’t be here until the end of next week.”

“Ling Chao? The guy with the crush on you?” Zhengting mind had stalled on the familiar name. “Is that wise, letting him carry the torch?”

“Ling Chao doesn’t have a crush on me!” Wenjun denied it vehemently. Zhengting gave him his patented “Are you kidding me?” look. “Yes, he and I had hooked up before, but that was that, no feelings involved in either side!”

“All right, let’s pretend that you’re right and he doesn’t have feelings for you, but if you’re trying to get laid, please don’t make him this week’s special, OK? Just… humour me, please. Purely for my sake.”

Wenjun let out a long breath through his nose, contemplating his answer.

“You really think he has feelings for me?” Zhengting nodded. “Then I shouldn’t invite him. I don’t want to encourage him.”

“No! You’re also inviting his friends, aren’t you? He’s not going to think anything if you send out a mass invite to them. He’s your friend after all. Just… if you don’t have feelings for him, try not to sleep with him, that’s all.”

Wenjun rolled his eyes. “Maybe I’ll be fine managing that.”

“Zheng ge, Kunkun and I had been talking,” an enthusiastic Zeren said as he trampled over to them with a grinning Xukun in tow. Zhengting raised an eyebrow over the usage of the nickname but said nothing. “And Xukun here doesn’t believe that you used to do photography yourself!”

Zhengting chocked on nothing in embarrassment.

“Oh, no, trust me, the reason no one knows about it is because there isn’t much to know, I am terrible at it!” Zhengting exclaimed, his face as red as a tomato, while absentmindedly playing with Wenjun’s already dry locks. “They are hidden away for a reason and they must stay hidden!”

“Oh, come on ge! If you would have a proper DSLR, you could probably do it better now!” Zeren argued. “You should try again, it would be pretty cool. The CEO of Yuehua Fashion does his own designs and the photography for it too.”

“I would really like to see that too,” Xukun said encouragingly.

“Absolutely not. End of discussion!” Zhengting declared it while patting Wenjun’s shoulder, urging him to go on. “Let’s go eat something!”

 

The hangers clanged together so loudly as Zeren threw his clothes from his bed down to the floor without any care for them, that Zhengting feared that the noise would wake up his overstressed babies. But that was the least of his problems at the moment.

Because it was two in the morning and Zeren was decidedly not happy.

He was there just a few hours before, raiding the younger boy’s closet together to find something passable to wear to his big birthday date, leaving Zeren’s usual, ugly shirts and worn-out jeans that he refused to part with in a big pile in the middle of his bed and get access to the fancier ones, which had probably never been worn by the younger man (and most of them bought by Zhengting as a gift).

Zeren haven’t said a single word as he stormed in through their front door an hour ago and went straight to the bathroom to have a shower. Zhengting, who knew that the photographer hadn’t even expected to be home for the whole night, had waited in his bedroom for him to emerge, only to witness him “packing away” his stuff wordlessly as he tried to free the bedding from under the clothes.

He stood up and grabbed onto the younger’s wrist gently.

“Leave it. Sleep with me tonight,” He said softly. Zeren didn’t even try to protest just nodded and followed Zhengting without a single word.

When they were already in bed, Zeren – who wasn’t that big on skinship – uncharacteristically buried his face into the juncture of Zhengting’s neck, furrowing into the elder’s embrace deeply. Zhengting could feel a little wetness through his pyjama shirt but he decided not to say anything, just card his hand through Zeren’s auburn locks and let him cry himself to sleep on his shoulder, while Zhengting felt his heart slowly break for him.

 

“I don’t even know what went wrong.” This was the statement mumbled into his shoulders as he was in the process of waking up the next morning. Zhengting shifted a little, letting the younger’s head rest on his chest but still see his face. Zeren must have been awake for some time: he looked terrible.

“What happened?” he asked, his voice still little heavy with sleep.

“It was fine at first, we laughed around, we had fun,” Zeren mumbled. “And I tried to steer the conversation to the topic of us. I mentioned that I want to go away for the weekend at Christmas and he suddenly stated acting very weird. He was so awkward and very distant.”

Zhengting eyebrows furrowed in surprise.

“What? He was panicking about planning a weekend trip in a month’s time?”

“I thought the same!” Zeren whined. “I mean we have spent almost all our free time together in the last month and we haven’t got bored with each other, it’s pretty much safe to believe that we would last for another month, right?”

“Why didn’t you confront him about it?” Zhengting asked completely baffled.

“I tried!” Zeren lifted his head completely to look at the elder with a devastated expression. “I asked him simple and clear: what’s wrong, do you not think that you wouldn’t want to be with me in a month time? And you know what he said? He said that we can’t know what will happen and I shouldn’t assume everything after such a short time! I got really angry!”

“And? I feel this wasn’t the end of the story.”

“No” Zeren pouted. “I might have told him off. I said that I thought it wouldn’t be such a far-fetched idea to assume that my boyfriend would want to spend a weekend with me. That was when he really got awkward and off-put.”

Zeren’s face had contorted again as he would start to cry any minute.

“Am I so bad that no one wants to be my boyfriend? I thought it would be different with Yanchen. I thought he really likes me! Even worse! I… I know, it’s way too fast to think about it, but I genuinely thought I was falling for him. I can’t believe it, I feel so embarrassed!”

“Oh honey!” Zhengting cooed. He was really angry but tried not to act like it too much. He knew this Yanchen would be a problem all along! “You have no reason to be embarrassed! I told you, if he doesn’t like you by now, he doesn’t deserve you. You have better options, believe me!”

“Who exactly?” Zeren raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “Ge, let me just be miserable in peace.”

“No,” Zhengting said firmly. “We’re going to celebrate your birthday with the best party this city has ever seen! And you’re going to have fun with all your old friends and…” Zhengting smirked. “the new ones.”

Zeren breathed out loudly, clearly not agreeing with Zhengting, but he seemed to be in better spirits after the talk, so the designer decided to deem it a success.

 

When Zhu Zhengting plans a birthday party for his closest friends, you can expect it to be an intimate event with a guest count barely over fifty.

Knowing this very well in advance, yet still wanting his birthday to be properly celebrated with his gang of friends, one Bi Wenjun made sure that all the people who are really important to him would gather over hotpot before the party.

“Why do you make me organise a huge party for you, where all you want is to gorge yourself on food with the people you refuse to live with, but still always impose on?” Zhengting shook his disappointedly as he made yet another wrap for Chengcheng. Wenjun gave him a look, but it was hard for him to be very intimidating having a very happy Wubaiwan, one of Zhengting’s dogs enjoying a very satisfying belly rub in his lap.

“You say it like this party was my idea!” he protested.

“But you could have told me not to bother!”

“I did. Repeatedly.”

“I thought you were just being modest!” Zhengting argued.

“I think it’s nice that we have just the gang together,” Justin quipped in. “I mean, having a party will be awesome, but well… this is finally some real quality time with us, all together!”

“And yet, here I was about to apologize that Dinghao couldn’t make it,” Xinchun sent a desecrating look towards the youngest. “He is helping Yanjun on a business dinner and would come around later for the party, but I see that no one is going to miss him other than me. Good to know!”

“That’s not what he meant, ge!” Chengcheng came to the defence of his boyfriend. “We love Dinghao ge, but this…” he gestured around the table enthusiastically. “Has a nostalgic feel to it. Just us, the roomies. And the house guest who we couldn’t throw out.”

A beautifully aimed piece of lettuce smacked Chengcheng in the face, courtesy of Wenjun. Zhengting gave them a look in scolding that seemed to be effective enough to stop the erupting food war.

“Come on, guys. We need this party!” Zhengting declared. “The boys are finally done with their exams, we haven’t seen Xinchun in ages and you two had survived another year!”

“I have seen you just a week ago!” Xinchun protested.

“Ages, Chun ge,” Justin told him with a dramatic flair. “It felt like ages.”

“What I’m saying is that you all have something to be proud of and celebrate with copious amount of alcohol and dancing,” Zhengting said, holding up his index finger. “And in the safe environment of our home. We don’t want a repeat of Chengcheng’s birthday, do we?” They all shuddered at the memory.

“I am happy for this party,” Quanzhe shrugged. Zhengting had patted the younger boy’s cheeks affectionately.

“I knew I can always count on you, baby!”

Zeren had slapped his hands down on the table dramatically.

“All right, I’m sold!” he declared. “Let the guests come and let's have an awesome party.”

“Yes,” Wenjun nodded. “We appreciate you for all this, Zhengzheng, thank you!”

“So, are we going to drink or just talk?” Xinchun asked, raising his glass for a toast. “Happy Birthday to our beloved and precious Ding Zeren! And Bi Wenjun, you are fine too!”

They all clanked their glasses and Wenjun just chuckled.

“You wonder why I never moved in, when all you do here is bully me,” he sighed dramatically, making the others laugh.

By the time the guests started to arrive, Zhengting had a nice little buzz going on. Soon enough the party was going on full swing: the lower floor of Zhengting’s penthouse overflowing with people they knew from all around the city: there were the co-workers from Yuehua, Wenjun’s model friends (Bu Fan did turned out to be a hilarious guy), the entire staff of the Maverick’s (Yanlei immediately tried to single out Zhengting, but the host could get away quite easily so far), Dinghao’s little group of friends that they liked very much (Chaoze explained to Zhengting that Zhangjing had finally moved into his new apartment, but he couldn’t possibly leave with everything going on, a fact which Zhengting pretended to be sad about) and a few friends of the boys from school came as well.

Zeren seemed to be having a good time chatting away with Xikan and Quanzhe’s adorable school friend, Zuo Ye, which was a huge relief for Zhengting to see. He was really worried that the boy will have a harder time bouncing back from the events of yesterday, but he should have known better: the boy was always very extrovert and had a lot of friends. It was clear that he was not yet all right of course, but he could put his negative feelings aside for a night of fun.

And it was time to make him happier on a permanent business.

“Xukun!” Zhengting sashayed over to his new photographer with a huge smile on his face. Xukun turned towards him and his face turned upwards in delight.

“Zhengting, hey!” he greeted, his face slightly flushed. Must be the champagne. “Your apartment is beautiful, I really love it!”

“Thank you!” Zhengting smiled. “It was my uncle’s place, it’s actually way too huge for me!”

“I understand. It can be lonely. I live alone as well. To be honest, I wouldn’t mind some company to join me soon,” Xukun winked at him, Zhengting chuckled conspiratorially.

“I understand, everybody wants company,” he nodded.

“You as well?”

“Oh, no! I have my dogs and I moved in a bunch of children for company so I can’t complain.”

Xukun laughed, looking embarrassed. He looked away and gestured towards the wall in front of them.

“Your decoration is very tasteful!” he declared teasingly. Zhengting turned towards the direction indicated and laughed: there was Xukun’s picture on the wall.

“Yeah, I like this photographer!” he said.

“Meh, I don’t know. I heard he is kind of a douche.”

Zhengting laughed.

“You shouldn’t believe every gossip, Kunkun,” he said in between chuckles, patting the photographer on his back. Xukun flushed again. Zhengting thought he really should slow down with the champagne.

“But! I bet your pictures are something to be seen as well!” Xukun said. Zhengting rolled his eyes, groaning. “Come on, Zhengting! I want to see what you can do! You just need a worthy subject. Your designs, for example. Ziyi told me he hadn’t seen any of your own work in so long, he misses it. Everybody would be happy!”

Zhengting’s mood had fallen a little bit. Ziyi was right actually: he hadn’t designed anything himself in more than a year. Back when he first came here, after inheriting his company, when they were struggling to come back with something impressive to re-establish their label to its former glory, the two of them had spent nights and nights slaving over the sewing table, coming up with a fall collection that would grab people’s attention and normalize their situation. He missed it a little bit, if he had to be honest, but everything else was demanding his attention so much he had no time to do what he actually liked.

Well, with a worthy subject… Oh, of course!

“Come with me!” Zhengting exclaimed, grabbing Xukun by his wrist dragging him over to Zeren who was just about to get himself a drink in the kitchen.

“Zeren!” the eldest called out, gaining his friend’s attention. “You still want me to photograph?”

“What?” Zeren asked confused then smiled with delight. “Of course, I want you to!”

“Well, Xukun here had a wonderful idea!” Zhengting declared.

“He did?” Zeren asked, looking at the other photographer with a smile.

“I did?” Xukun looked at Zhengting confused. The latter hit his shoulder playfully.

“Yeah, you did!” he said. “I will do some photos, with a few conditions.”

“Wow, really? Great!” Zeren said. “You will design something? Couture? Oh! Oh! Something on a male model! It could be very edgy! Wenjun ge would probably do it for you!”

“That was exactly what Xukun was saying, aren’t you two just so on the same wavelength?” Zhengting said pointedly. Xukun and Zeren looked at each other, flushing a little bit nervously. “But no, I wasn’t going to ask Wenjun to do it, but here Xukun was telling me, that I should find a worthy subject. I was hoping you would help me get my “worthy subject”, Kunkun?”

“Of course! Who do you have in mind?”

“Our little Zeren here, of course!” Zhengting declared.

“Ah, ge! I’m not a model!” Zeren flushed a very deep shade of red.

“But you would be perfect for it! You’re gorgeous! Don’t you agree, Xukun?” Zhengting asked.

“Yes, absolutely!” Xukun nodded along. “Please, Zeren. I’m not sure we could convince the boss otherwise.” Xukun leaned over to the younger conspiratorially and smirked. “We need to try to make the best of it, don’t we?”

Zeren seemed to be unsure, but Xukun just looked at him with pleading eyes.

“All right!” he said in the end. “All right, I’ll do it! But only for your sake, Zheng ge! I don’t really have the face for artistic photography.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you look perfectly symmetrical!” Xukun protested. “You have a bunch of good angles, you just never really explored it! I’m sure we can find a way to capture you perfectly, I have perfect confidence in Zhengting!”

Zhengting laughed.

“And I have perfect confidence that I will have you to explore our Zeren’s best angles!” he said, gathering both of them under each arm, squeezing them briefly. “I think I’ll come up with a design next week. And now, I leave you to discuss… your ehhem… photography!” he said and then bolted away, leaving the pair of them to their slightly awkward flirting.

But that was okay, they would be better at it sooner. Zeren could get anyone out of their shells and Xukun wouldn’t be so shy as the two would develop their relationship further.

He looked around his living space, scanning through all the people dancing and chatting away in various states of intoxication. He spotted Wenjun with a slice of the state-of-the-art cake Zhengting had made himself for the birthday boys with Justin’s help and was highly praised by all the guests. It seemed like Wenjun was about to have one for himself: he must have had enough drinks in him to ignore his diet and actually try it. He skipped over to him, jumping on the taller’s back with such a force that Wenjun had to balance himself on the counter with his free hand.

“Who is the awesomest matchmaker in this town?” he asked cheerfully. “It’s yours truly!”

“Zhengzheng!” A voice boomed right near Zhengting’s ear. Oops. He forgot to check who Wenjun was talking to.

“Hey Yanlei!” He smiled as he dismounted Wenjun’s back surprisingly gracefully. Only in the end of his manoeuvre he slipped a little, but Wenjun was there to stabilize him, an arm sneaked around his waist.  “Sorry, I got a little carried away, here!”

“It’s alright!” Yanlei shrugged. “I was just talking to Wenjun about my plans for the restaurant.”

“Did you hear that Yanlei is buying a building next week?” Wenjun turned to him curiously.

“Wow, next week? So soon?” he asked, truly surprised. “I thought you’re just looking into your options and everything.”

“Oh, no. I’m fully committed to this. I already made an offer today. If they accept it, I’m selling my shares and it is a go!”

“Are you sure about this?” Wenjun asked. “Those shares may worth way more one day. This might not be the right decision.”

Well, that was why Zhengting liked having Wenjun around: to say what he wants to say but in a nicer way.

“But I want to be a chef at my own restaurant and I want that now!” Yanlei whined, flapping his hands around with such a swing that he knocked the cake plate out of Wenjun’s hand and the slice had landed on the tiles of the dining room floor. Zhengting cringed and blessed himself for thinking that paper plates and cups are a better choice than his actual dinnerware. “Oops, sorry there. So, yes, I might have a chance to be a millionaire in a few years but what if the whole TGM crashes? I heard the majority shareholder plans to resign as CEO and hand over the handling of the company to one of his associates. Then the prices will sure plummet and who knows when it’s gonna stabilize again? I will lose the building!”

Zhengting opened his mouth, but Wenjun squeezed his waist painfully. He knew very well Zhengting was about to say something hurtful.

“If that’s what you really want, then we, since we’re your friends and we want you to be happy are very glad for you!” the taller said, enunciating every word carefully. Zhengting swallowed and smiled.

“Yeah, sure,” he said in the end. Yanlei smiled happily.

“You guys should really come over and check it out! It’s prime real estate. The view from the rooftop is amazing! I’m thinking of turning that into a club, but I still have a lot of options. I was hoping you would help me with some ideas, Zhengzheng. You are the best among my friends at these types of things.”

Zhengting just smiled awkwardly and said nothing, hoping that he would walk away after that. Yanlei was so happy, he tried to lounge forward to hug Zhengting but since he was quite drunk himself, he ended up falling backwards, balancing himself by sticking his hands out, slamming into the countertop: right in the middle of the remaining cake. People all hissed audibly around them, their gazes immediately going for Zhengting to see his reaction. Zhengting had seen the embarrassed and guilty look on Yanlei’s face and his anger was wiped away instantly, pity taking its place watching his clumsy guest’s expression.

“Zhengzheng, I’m so sorry!” Yanlei apologized profoundly. He tried to reach out for Zhengting, but fortunately realized that his hands were a mess with frosting and ruined sponge cake, and just continued to look at the host sheepishly.

“It’s alright, Leizi,” He said. “It’s just a cake, there wasn’t much of it left anyway.”

He patted Yanlei in the back and sent him to bathroom to clean himself up. He was just about get the dustpan to clean up the remains from the floor and the counter, but then he realized that Wenjun’s grip didn’t lessen on his waist.

He looked over to his friend: Wenjun’s mouth turned into a miserable pout and his eyes literally watered up.

“My birthday cake…” he muttered out, his voice in complete misery. Zhengting thought he was one of the most adorable things he had ever seen.

“Oh baby!” he cooed, gently stroking Wenjun’s chin. “I’m going to make a new one for tomorrow. Just for you, all right?”

“I shouldn’t I’m on a diet,” Wenjun said, still pouting.

“But you were just about to eat a slice!”

“Yeah, that’s one slice!” Wenjun whined. “If you make me another one tomorrow, you are going to make a full cake just for me, and I’m probably going to eat it, I’ll get fat and I’ll get fired from that runway show two weeks from now!”

“Come now, it’s not that bad…”

“Just one slice of your delicious cake is all I wanted!” Wenjun went on with his rant. “Just a single slice of deliciousness that you made. For me. You know how much I love your baking and I was waiting for it ever since I heard about this ridiculous party!”

“Xiao Jun!” Zhengting interrupted the other boy, cradling Wenjun’s head with both his hands. “I can make you a mini cake tomorrow, okay? I will make it sugar-free and low-carbohydrate. Just for you. I’ll make it and bring it over to your apartment so the others wouldn’t try to eat it. You will be fine, okay?”

“Okay,” Wenjun finally agreed, with a sullen tone. Zhengting suppressed a laugh: Wenjun was always dramatic when he was on a diet, but he was even more dramatic when he was on a diet and drunk. He patted Wenjun’s cheeks again and gave him his own flute of champagne to drink as the model watched him cleaning up the mess quickly.

“Zhengting!” Yanlei called out excitedly, walking back towards them from the direction of the bathroom near his main entrance. “Your boyfriend is here!”

“His what?” Wenjun asked, his voice surreally high.

“My what?” Zhengting asked at the same time.

“Oh, sorry! You haven’t put labels on it yet, have you?” Yanlei grimaced. His face fell a little as he noticed the confusion increasing on Zhengting’s face. “You know, the guy you had your date with at the café? Mr I-am-sleazy-and-feed-my-boyfriend-their-bubble-tea guy? What’s his name? I remember writing it on his cup, Yan something?”

“Bubble tea… what?” Wenjun looked at Zhengting scandalized, who had met his gaze with confusion.

Then suddenly it dawned on him.

“Oh! Oh! Yankai!” he said. Wenjun gave him a look of horror. The elder tried to communicate to him nonverbally to just roll with it, but it seemed like their telepathic best friend link was disconnected right now. “He is here? How?”

Yanlei look confused. Zhengting realized his mistake.

“I mean… of course he’s here!” he exclaimed, smiling his best fake smile. “He is my new boyfriend after all, it sounds rational that I invited him to my party!”

He looked behind Yanlei and holy shit, the barista was right. There he was, slowly approaching them, Yankai, the guy from the café who so graciously pretended to be his boyfriend. He looked just as good as he did before in a well-tailored suit, but this time a blue shirt underneath it with no tie: Zhengting had to admit he digged this casual business look very much. As he got closer, Zhengting realized that he was dragged towards their direction rather than walking here casually: he was led by an overly enthusiastic Dinghao and a smirking Xinchun in tow and didn’t even seem to notice Zhengting just yet, taking in the interior of the apartment.

What the hell was going on?

“Hey, Yankai!” Yanlei waved at him as they got closer. “Do you remember me? I served you your latte the other day.”

“It’s Yanjun, actually,” Yankai corrected, extending a hand to Yanlei. Shit, his name wasn’t Yankai? Zhengting was in so much trouble.

Wait a minute. Yanjun? Oh. At least, that explained his presence in his apartment.

“Huh? Really? Zhengting ge just said your name is Yankai, though…” he said motioning towards the dumbfounded host right beside him. Zhengting watched as Yanjun’s gaze slowly took him in, recognition igniting in his eyes, his face morphing into a smile.

“What?” Dinghao looked confused. “How would Zhengting know that…” Yanjun grabbed his friend’s forearm to stop him from talking and spoke up.

“Yeah, he thought my name is Yankai,” he told Yanlei smoothly. “He remembered it incorrectly and I just liked him too much to correct him and ruin the mood for our past dates. He was way too adorable, I couldn't help myself.” He turned towards Zhengting with a serious expression so fake, that the designer could barely contain his laughter. “I’m sorry but I thought it’s alright for you to know the truth now, babe.”

“What the hell?” Wenjun’s jaw was basically on the floor at this point. Xinchun and Dinghao were also confused as hell and it wouldn’t be long before they started to voice their opinion. Zhengting needed to do some damage control, like at this instant.

“Yanlei, there’s still some cake left in your hair why don’t you go back to the bathroom and fix it?” he turned towards his friend, gently patting him on his back. Yanlei quickly ran his hand through his hair without realizing that his hand actually did have some frosting on it, so technically at this point Zhengting wasn’t even lying, and rushed back towards the bathroom.

“I guess… we don’t need introductions then?” Xinchun asked slowly, his gaze hopping from Yanjun to Zhengting as if he was watching a ping-pong match.

The host just buried his face into his hands.

“Gosh, the Earth could swallow me, like right now! Thank you!” he groaned out, trying to hide his flaming face. He heard Yanjun chuckle out.

“That would be a shame,” he said. “Losing to opportunity to actually talk to you properly for the second time in the row. I have to say I liked your previous outfit better. It brought out your charms more.”

Zhengting looked up, meeting Yanjun dead in the eye.

“Aren’t you just a funny guy?” Zhengting teased but chuckling to himself.

“Again…” Wenjun said from next to Zhengting. “What the hell?”

“Wenjun, this is my friend I was talking to you about,” Dinghao rushed to chip in. “Lin Yanjun, this is Bi Wenjun.”

Yanjun extended a hand out towards the stunned model, who took it instinctively.

“Nice to meet you, Wenjun!” He greeted, smiling. Wenjun just nodded.

“And I guess we don’t have to introduce you two to each other, since you two are already… acquainted.” Xinchun said, side-eyeing Yanjun and Zhengting.

“That might be still a useful thing to do, Xinchun,” Yanjun chuckled. “We might avoid further embarrassing ourselves. But I will have an educated guess and say that you must be the famous Zhu Zhengting.”

Zhengting took his hand in a way less awkward manner than Wenjun did.

“Your guess is correct, though I don’t know much about being famous.”

“Oh, believe me!” Yanjun laughed. “I haven’t heard anything else from Dinghao ever since I started talking about my trip to Shanghai that I just have to meet this Zhu Zhengting who’s like a real-life fairy godmother disguised in human form.”

Zhengting snorted. How peculiar, that they all had to be the receivers of very similar praises for weeks now about a certain Lin Yanjun, but as he looked over to the couple that was already blushing a little, he thought he would save them from further embarrassment and not mention it.

“I’m sure everything he told you is a lie,” he dismissed it.

“I don’t know,” Yanjun hummed. “I would like to make my own judgement about it.”

“You’re welcome to do so” Zhengting told him, smiling at him a little flirtatiously. Hey, he wasn’t at fault here: the guy obviously started it.

“So… you two don’t know each other then?” Wenjun interrupted them, causing them to cease their intense staring match and look away embarrassed.

“Ah no,” Zhengting chuckled. “I just went to Maverick’s the other day and I didn’t want to talk business with Yanlei, so I told him I’m on a date with whom I thought is a random dude in the café, that I won’t see again. And Yanjun here was gallant enough to play the role without a question.”

“Oooh!” Xinchun and Dinghao cooed out, scarily in sync: was this how every couple worked after enough time spent together?

“Huh… What a coincidence!” Wenjun said and Zhengting could swear that he noticed a little annoyed undertone to it, but he must have misheard it.

“I have to say… it is a pleasant surprise to see you again,” Yanjun stated, looking at Zhengting hopefully. “Considering how we were cut short rather abruptly the other day.”

“Wenjun ge” Xinchun turned towards Wenjun, grabbing onto his arm, already trying to drag him away from the scene. “You said you would introduce me and Dinghao to your model friends, why don’t we do that now?”

“What? Oh, right,” Wenjun said, moving forward still in a daze a little bit.

“You two just stay here and continue chatting!” Dinghao waved to them hurrying after his boyfriend and their stunned third companion. Zhengting looked after them fondly.

“I have a feeling that the two of us had been fallen into victims of matchmaking,” Yanjun’s sultry voice had stated leaning a little closer to him to gain his attention. Zhengting turned back towards the man, laughing.

“Yeah, I got that impression too,” he said. “Considering how I haven’t been hearing anything but the praises of Lin Yanjun for the past few weeks as well, it’s safe to say we are being set up.”

 “Well, I guess we took care of it on our own. I would be very surprised if Dinghao is not utterly disappointed right at this moment that he couldn’t be the one actually introducing us."

“Well, I still have a lot of things I have heard of you that I am curious about, so it’s fine,” Zhengting said. Realizing he gave his previous drink to Wenjun a few minutes ago he went to get another cup and gave Yanjun one as well.

“I have a lot to ask about you too,” he said, accepting the drink, sipping it casually, his gaze never leaving Zhengting’s face. “Where are your famous dogs for example?”

Zhengting laughed out loud. “Dinghao talked about my dogs? Right, he mentioned you volunteer at shelters a lot to me as well. They are upstairs in my room, I didn’t want them to get hurt by letting them stay downstairs with so many people.”

“Well, he wanted me to like you and he knew what I like best,” Yanjun chuckled. “I’m a serious dog enthusiast, so it gained my attention. The first app I ever made was a map social app for dog owners.”

Zhengting laughed so hard he almost spit out his champagne.

“What?” he asked in disbelief.

“I’m serious!” Yanjun told him. “It was for dog owners to find dog walkers, parks or good vetenarians and whatsoever. People could register their dog-related businesses and users would give reviews for all of them. It was called the BarkNet.”

“That is surprisingly useful,” Zhengting said appreciatively. “But I’m pretty sure people had made that one before. Is that what made you as filthy rich as Dinghao had made you out to be? Was BarkNet a success?”

“An absolute and total failure,” Yanjun stated, making both of them laugh out loud. “No, then I decided that a website where people can search for luxury products of world-famous fashion brands and found similar pieces for a more affordable price or a better quality is a more lucrative business. In the end, it turned out I was correct, and I had become filthy rich. I’m sure you, as a fashion designer in charge of your own brand – if what Dinghao told me was correct – could appreciate the appeal in smaller brands competing in a fairer market place against the big world-famous labels.”

Zhengting let out a contemplating hum.

“I like to think that my label can stand on his own,” he said, trying to not sound offended.

“Of course, I didn’t mean to say these labels are rip-offs!” Yanjun corrected himself quickly as he felt his own blunder. “My algorithm just recognizes a dress is overall cut and colour scheme and searches for similar dresses in our database. The designs can still be completely original and unique! It’s just a simple image recognition like the ones other famous search engines are using. And this is also an opportunity for a smaller label to be seen on a wider marketplace than what an ordinary webshop can give.”

Zhengting smirked at the man in front of him.

“Are you pitching me a business deal here right now?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Ah no, sorry!” Yanjun laughed embarrassed. “I just always go overboard with boring tech stuff or business stuff when I start talking about this.”

“No, it’s not boring, it’s quite interesting and you got me hooked totally!” Zhengting argued.

“Yeah, I can be pretty convincing.” Yanjun shrugged, smiling. “I just came from a meeting with Versace where I had to convince them not to sue TGM, it was great really.”

“Oh, wait! Are you talking about TGM?” Zhengting’s eyes went wide. “Are you actually the owner of TGM?”

“Uhm, yeah,” Yanjun chuckled. “I thought you had known and you’re just not familiar with what I’m doing exactly.”

“No! I thought you’re just managing some knock-off with a same aim!” Zhengting claimed. “I didn’t know that. Almost all of my online revenue comes from the sales through your webshop!”

“Ah really? What is the name of your brand?” Yanjun asked smiling enthusiastically.

“Yuehua Fashion.”

“Ah, I love your stuff! I think I even actually own a few of your suits from a collection three years ago,” Yanjun told him. “Your label had its moments, I have to give you that.”

“Excuse me?” Zhengting asked dumbfounded. “We had our moments? I pride myself on the continuously good quality of my work, thank you very much!”

“But that’s kind of it, isn’t it? Your niche is continuity.” Yanjun pointed out.

“What do you mean?”

“You kinda play the safe ground. Fashion is not supposed to be continuous. It should take some risk now and then, shouldn’t it? I liked your fall collection three years ago, because it was something fresh and innovative, yet represented your label with the same elegance the people were used to from the brand. I think you should rehire your head of design from back then and let him do what he wants.”

Zhengting fell silent at that. It was a weird feeling, how this random man, whom he had met twice at this point had yet again immediately found an insecurity in him and tried to make him feel better about it.

“He still works at the company,” he admitted. “But he is busy with executive stuff.”

“Why would you make someone an executive when they’re clearly the best designer you can possibly have?” Yanjun asked confused. “What position is more important than that in a fashion company?”

“CEO.”

“Oh,” Yanjun fell silent, seemingly gathering his thoughts. “I just put my hands in the fire again with you, didn’t I?”

Zhengting laughed at that.

“Yeah, it seems like we always end up talking about the deep stuff,” he said, making Yanjun chuckle. “But if I have to guess, you’re in a similar situation as I am, aren’t you? Doing things that you don’t like with TGM, while you would want to do stuff like BarkNet. It’s kind of the same, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, that is why I’m considering stepping down.”

“Yes, I heard,” Zhengting nodded. “That would be a very brave thing to do.”

“Well, it is a big decision, I have to say. I have someone who would be perfect to take over, but…”

“You’re scared. I understand,” Zhengting reached out to lay a hand on Yanjun’s arm reassuringly. Yanjun just laughed again.

“I am pretty sure that’s not what Xinchun and Dinghao envisioned us talking about!” he said.

“Yes, I am pretty sure that they didn’t want us to talk about the business relationship we have!” Zhengting laughed along.

“I’m not opposed to steering this towards their idea,” Yanjun stated confidently. “After all, you still have a phone number you promised to give me.”

“Ah I’m not so sure about that…” Zhengting admitted a little bit sheepishly.

“How come?” Yanjun looked confused. “You would have given it to me the other day.”

“I… don’t really know how to date people,” Zhengting admitted reluctantly, playing with the hem of his shirt a little nervously.

“Not much experience with boyfriends or girlfriends?”

“More like none.”

“Oh. Does this mean… are you…?”

Zhengting rolled his eyes.

“No, I am not a virgin. I said I don’t do boyfriends, not that I don’t do men at all. I don’t really have the time or the patience for a relationship.”

“Well, I’m not the best boyfriend material either,” Yanjun admitted, shrugging. “I had one before. Ended up with a broken heart. I don’t really do love ever since then.”

Zhengting looked at him for a long moment, a smile slowly creeping over his face. Yanjun smiled back at him.

“I guess we’re at an understanding here,” Yanjun said taking a big gulp of his drink and setting it down on the counter, stepping closer to Zhengting.

Zhengting knew pretty well what he meant. Yeah, they were kind of obvious about this. He himself had emptied his cup. He stepped right into the older man’s personal space.

“As pleasing as this all sounds, I can’t just leave. I’m supposed to be the host of this party,” he said. They were really close right now: Zhengting could smell the other man’s cologne. Yanjun turned his head slightly, gently stroking his face against Zhengting’s, slowly breathing him in.

“I think your guests are fine without you for a while, wouldn’t you say?” he whispered into his ear and it most definitely did things to Zhengting, he pulled away slightly, but clutched into the businessman’s suit to not let him go too far from him. He looked around to assess the situation.

Chengcheng and Justin was having a drinking contest with one of their school friends, Linkai, who tried not to vomit every time the couple had become distracted with each other. Quanzhe was playing an intense game of Jenga with Xikan and Luo Zheng, while Xinchun was busy getting reacquainted with the inner workings of Dinghao’s mouth. Zeren was hitting up the dance floor with Xukun and Ziyi, blowing away everyone with his moves: Zhengting knew once he started dancing, it would be a while till he was able to stop, so he didn’t have to worry about him either.

But where was Wenjun? He took a second look around and he was just about give up on their idea and let go of Yanjun, because holy hell, Wenjun was missing he had to find him right now… when he spotted the back of his head in one of the corners of his living room, behind the dancing mass of people. He didn’t see who he was with, but those were definitely someone else’s hands that were running through his hair at the back of his head, so he guessed the birthday boy had actually took his advice and decided to get some for himself.

“I think they can spare me for an hour or two,” he turned back to Yanjun in the end. It was time to take his own advice.

Wubaiwan and Fuli can sleep in Xinchun’s old room just this one time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for now, I hope you enjoyed. The rest of it is coming soon, depending on how fast my awesome beta can battle through my incoherence.
> 
> Comments and Kudos are much appretiated!
> 
> Also, if any of you found yourself here from my other story, I didn't abandon it, I promise! This was supposed to be a little writing excercise before I try to write a much more convoluted plotline... well, I obviously still have a lot to practice XD


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I just don’t need a relationship at all,” Zhengting declared. “I have my work that’s keeping me super busy and I always do a bunch of other stuff too! I don’t have time to get to know someone and go on dates and I don’t want to fall in love! Ugh, it’s just a hassle!”
> 
> “But you have never been in love!” Chengcheng pointed out cleverly.
> 
> “I don’t need to be in love to know this much, I have seen it enough times with you all,” Zhengting retorted. “I’m fine. I have all of you, I have my family, I have my dogs and I have my job. I’m happy just the way I am. What else would I need?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, I am sorry but this is not beta-read. My beta just had just moved to the other end of the world and she has a lot of on her plate right now. But I still wanted to share the rest of the story with you all, so it will probably be proof-read at a later point.

8 unread incoming texts

**Wenjun at 3:15** _: @home, gnihtg!_

**Xinchun at 4:30** _: Ge, where R U? R U w/ Yanjun ge? Sleeping @ my old room with D._

**Xinchun at 4:35** _: I C wbw and fuli here, I get it now. Be safe! 😉 xxx_

**Yanjun at 7:23** _: I just arrived back at the hotel! See, I told you I would text you if you give me your number! 😉 I had a lot of fun yesterday, I hope you did too._

**Yanjun at 7:25** _: Are you gonna draw today then? I’m interested what you will come up with._

**Xukun at 09:07:** _Hey, Zhengting! I hope I’m not waking you with this, I just wanted to thank you for inviting me, I had a lot of fun! Anyway, I hope you didn’t forget your promise about Zeren and the photos._

**Yanlei at 09:41** _: Zhengzheng, the party was plain awesome yesterday! Hangover is killing me, but worth it! Save my number again, call me when you have time to see my building! I really want you to check it out!_

**Yanlei at 09:42** _: I am Yanlei btw_

 

Zhengting sighed out as he scrolled through his messages, chewing on cereal at his counter in the middle of the chaos. He didn’t feel like cleaning up, he decided to wait for his boys to wake and help him out.

“What the hell happened to the cake last night?” Zeren asked, his voice very groggy, his hair a mess as he dragged himself into the kitchen getting a bowl out for himself.

“It was destroyed, whatever was left of it,” Zhengting shrugged. “Dong Yanlei had fallen through it.”

“Ah, of course it was Yanlei!” Zeren pouted. “I wanted to eat that for breakfast, it was awesome!”

“Yeah, Wenjun haven’t even tried it,” Zhengting informed the younger as he sat down beside him. “I’m doing him another one later, poor thing. But, enough talk about the cake!” Zhengting smirked at the younger. “How was the dancing with Kunkun?”

“Zhengting, I have been dancing with literally everyone last night!” Zeren shrugged. “I don’t remember much of it. But yeah, Kun is quite a worthy competition. He’s a good dancer. Why are you smirking like that, ge? It’s super creepy.”

“He’s totally into you!”

“What? No, he isn’t!” Zeren spluttered. “He’s a friend and we spent a lot of time together at work, that’s it.”

“Of course,” Zhengting laughed. “He couldn’t take his eyes off you yesterday!”

“What? Really?”

“I’m telling you! And he was way too eager once I mentioned that we would dress you up! He totally likes you!”

Zeren furrowed his eyebrows.

“I haven’t noticed it, to be honest. Do you really think so?” Zeren asked. “And I’m not even sure if I have that sort of feelings for him either. I mean, after the whole thing with Yanchen, I don’t think I’m ready to try again.”

“You don’t have to move in and have two and half kids with a dog with him right now! But you should at least give him a chance, don’t you think?”

“Well, maybe you are right,” Zeren told him. “I’m not gonna say no if he asks me out.”

Zhengting smiled triumphantly.

“That’s all you need to do!” he winked at the photographer. “I’m almost a hundred percent sure that he will ask you out before we are done with our little side-project.”

Zeren smiled.

“I’m happy you’re so exited about this,” he said. “Not just the photography. I haven’t seen you design anything for so long, I can’t wait to see it.”

Zhengting smiled back at him with fondness patting him on the head lovingly, if maybe with a little too much force. He himself had felt a little giddy about this : he hasn’t designed anything for months let alone actual showpieces. But after last night’s talk with Zeren and Xukun and the encouragement from Yanjun, he felt inspired for the first time in forever.

“Anyway,” Zeren said as he polished off the last of his cereal. “Thank you for last night, gege. I had so much fun, thank you for organizing it. That was really what I needed.”

“Are we talking about good nights yesterday?” Xinchun said as he trotted down the staircase with a way too cheerful Dinghao in tow. “Because ge must have had a fun night!”

Zhengting groaned as he rolled his eyes. He was hoping none of the boys had noticed that he had disappeared around half past two. Of course, Xinchun’s text from last night had eviscerated that hope, but he was still holding out that the couple wouldn’t tell it to everyone else.

“You’re very welcome, by the way!” Dinghao added cheerfully as they sat down opposite him, elbows on the counter, chins resting on their palms, looking at Zhengting with the same delightful expression.

“Story time, ge!” Xinchun said. “How was last night with Yanjun?”

“Ooh!” Zeren cooed. “So the famous Lin Yanjun was here finally? I haven’t even met him!”

“Well, he didn’t spend much time on the party, did he, Zhengzheng?” Dinghao smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Why? What happened?” Justin’s voice startled all of them coming from the direction of the couch. Zhengting looked over: there he was, with a sleeping Chengcheng draped all over him, slowly waking up because of the noise. Were they there all along?

“Nothing that’s your business,” Zhengting told them, trying to close the conversation at this point.

“Oh, come on, ge!” Xinchun whined. “I’m so happy for you! Ever since I met Yanjun, I knew that you two would be perfect for each other and Dinghao agreed. And see? We were right!”

“What?” Quanzhe ran down on the stairs suddenly, his eyes wide open, an astonished expression sitting on his face. “Does Zhengting ge finally have a boyfriend now or what?”

“No!” Zhengting shot down the suggestion immediately.

“Not yet, of course. But soon,” Dinghao said. He squealed, grabbing onto Xinchun excitedly. “This is so great, my best friend and your best friend will become a couple!”

“All right, listen up you all!” Zhengting spoke up. That was enough. “Yes, Yanjun had spent the night with me, but he is not my boyfriend and won’t be. He is not looking for a relationship and neither do I, so that was all!”

“But don’t you want to finally have someone?” Quanzhe asked.

“That’s right,” Justin quipped in. “I had known you since we were kids and you never actually had a real boyfriend. Except that weird guy from high school and maybe that awkward med student in university. But how long did that last? Three weeks? A month at tops.”

“I just don’t need a relationship at all,” Zhengting declared. “I have my work that’s keeping me super busy and I always do a bunch of other stuff too! I don’t have time to get to know someone and go on dates and I don’t want to fall in love! Ugh, it’s just a hassle!”

“But you have never been in love!” Chengcheng pointed out cleverly.

“I don’t need to be in love to know this much, I have seen it enough times with you all,” Zhengting retorted. “I’m fine. I have all of you, I have my family, I have my dogs and I have my job. I’m happy just the way I am. What else would I need?”

“You’re only saying this because you don’t know what you’re missing,” Xinchun shook his head disappointedly.

“Maybe, but isn’t ignorance better then?” the designer asked as he got up from the counter. “I will be working a little, you guys are all on clean-up duty!”

He ignored all the groans of his boys – We should really hire a maid, Zhengting ge! – and disappeared to his fortress of solitude in the house: his workroom. He let out a contented breath; he loved how his friends had cared for him, but they can be very tiring. But he was still happy to have them: he felt very loved at this moment. The only thing missing was Wenjun, so Zhengting shoot him a good morning text and reminded him that he would stop by this evening for their annual little get-together. He sat down in front of his sketchpad, grabbed a pencil and started drawing.

Three hours later, he had everything he wanted for the design for Zeren’s photoshoot and more. Led by a sudden spur of inspiration he added ten further set of clothing: a full collection. He knew he wouldn’t make them, they were useless, but it was fun, and they looked pretty awesome. He snapped some pictures of his sketchpad and out on a whim, he sent the pictures to Yanjun. The two of them had talked well into the morning as they lounged around Zhengting’s bed and Yanjun seemed very interested in this little side-project of his. He told him that he should do whatever makes him happy.

Well, this definitely made Zhengting happy. He couldn’t wait to start making it, but he didn’t have the necessary fabrics at home and he had a cake to do anyway. His phone dinged with an incoming message.

 **Yanjun** _: That looks interesting! Can’t wait to see them when you make them!_

Zhengting explained to him that the only one he will be making is the first one, but it’s nice that he thought so.

 **Yanjun** _: That can’t be. I’m already intrigued._

 **Zhengting** _: Your existence is doomed to eternal pain then, sorry._

 **Yanjun** _: Ah, the agony you are leaving me in here…_

 **Zhengting** _: How was lunch with your lawyers?_

 **Yanjun** _: Please, bring me a rope to hang myself with when you come and see me. Why can’t Dinghao be my only legal consultant, I don’t understand._

 **Zhengting** _: That bad?_

 **Yanjun** _: The only thing keeping me sane is that I’ll see you tonight._

 **Zhengting** _: Will you?_

 **Yanjun** _: I will._

 **Zhengting** _: Someone must have forgotten to mention it to me._

 **Yanjun** _: Who was it? I’ll fire him this instant._

 **Zhengting** _: So, should I consider this your roundabout way of asking me out?_

 **Yanjun** _: You see through me, like I’m a window. Dinner at 8?_

 **Zhengting** _: I’m meeting Wenjun this evening, sorry. It’s kind of an annual thing for just the two of us at his birthday._

 **Yanjun** _: Ah, what a pity! Anyway, next time I’ll have better luck. Have fun with Wenjun!_

 

It was a surprisingly chilly late-afternoon as Zhengting hurried over to his best friend’s apartment building with his freshly baked cake. He was very proud of it, if he was honest with himself: it came out even better than the one he made for the party. On his way there he made a stop at the fabric store and browsed through what he needed. He also brought over his sketches, he couldn’t wait to show them to Wenjun. The taller man had been pestering him to do some designing for months now, he will be happy to see the progress he made.

With his hand so full of stuff, he pressed the doorbell instead of trying to type in Wenjun’s passcode. He got no answer, so he pressed again. And again.

What the hell this guy was doing that he couldn’t open his door?

After the fifth try, he finally heard footsteps and the door opened, revealing a very dishevelled Wenjun in nothing but a bathrobe loosely knotted around his waist. Wenjun’s eyes were wide as saucers, clearly surprised to see Zhengting here at his house for some reason. The elder raised an eyebrow at that: it was not like Wenjun haven’t always been hanging out in his apartment. Was it that weird to have Zhengting over here?

“Should I have brought you hangover soup instead of cake?” he asked, walking past Wenjun into the apartment, not waiting for an invitation. He walked right into his kitchen setting the cake on the countertop. Wenjun followed him in a little bit of a daze. “You seem really out of it, did you just wake up? It’s five in the afternoon already!”

“Ah, no. Zhengting…”

“Here’s the cake. Happy Birthday! I think it came out even better than the one you couldn’t get to have last night, do you want to cut it now? I would like to try it too, if you offer me a slice, that is.”

“Zhengting…”

“You wouldn’t believe what a day I had!” Zhengting ranted on smiling, fishing out his sketchbook from his bag offering it to the model expectantly. “Check out what I designed, it will be awesome once it’s ready. I know, originally, this was only meant to be an excuse to get Xukun and Zeren together but I’m starting get really exited about this project! What’s wrong? Do you not want to see them?”

Zhengting suddenly halted when he finally took in the expression on Wenjun’s face.

“Nothing!” Wenjun finally said. “I would like to see them, just… not now!”

“All right, all right,” Zhengting withdrew his sketchbook packing it away. “Don’t get your panties in a twist over this. I thought you got laid last night but you seem even more uptight than usual.”

“Zhengting!” Wenjun interrupted him before he could start on a new rant. “He’s still here.”

Oh.

Oh!

“Ah, sorry!” Zhengting said, suddenly whispering, he himself couldn’t tell why. “But you could have told me not to come over then! I made an idiot of myself!”

“Sorry, it slipped my mind to text you.”

Zhengting felt a little pang in his chest, but he didn’t want to admit that the fact that Wenjun had forgotten about him hurt way more than it should. It wasn’t the first time the two of them went home from a party with company, but they never forget to tell each other when they’re off and text good morning to each other once they’re up. Wenjun sent him a good night text last night even drunk out his mind, but couldn’t bother to check his phone while completely sober because of a hook-up?

And what kind of hook-up stayed until the next evening anyway?

“All right, then I’m off!” he finally said, evening out his voice quite efficiently. Maybe Wenjun wouldn’t notice that he’s upset. “I leave the cake, eat it! Don’t let it go to waste!” And he turned towards the corridor, ready to get back out.

Only to come face to face with Ling Chao of all people, barely dressed in the shirt Wenjun was wearing to last night’s party. Zhengting would know: he chose this for the man himself.

Oh indeed.

Worried that he would say something damaging and inappropriate he forced a smile on his face as he met the petite model’s innocent, warm gaze and left them with only a salute and little squeaked goodbye.

 _You told him not to sleep with Ling Chao because he would hurt him,_ he thought to himself as he pressed the button of the elevator aggressively. _You told him not to play with him and he still choose to hook up with him._

That would explain why he was so mad at the moment. He knew this would happen.

Well, unless Wenjun had feelings for Ling Chao. That would explain this and why the younger model is still here after a whole day.

But Wenjun said he didn’t have any feelings for him just a few days ago!

This didn’t make any sense. And if it was true and Wenjun did fell in love with Ling Chao and now he’ll start dating him, it was still unfair. They agreed even before last night, that tonight would be just for the two of them. They had always spent the night of Wenjun’s birthday together, watching old kung-fu movies, gorging themselves on junk food. They had done that ever since that uncharacteristically snowy November five years ago, when they barely knew each other and planned to go out clubbing in Beijing with Wenjun’s friends and Zhengting college mates only to be stuck in Wenjun’s brother’s house, completely snowed in and alone. That was the night when their friendship really started.

And it was supposed to be their sacred night. Whatever plans Wenjun had for his birthday it always had to be either a day earlier or a day later because this night was dedicated to Zhengting.

The designer guessed that now that Wenjun was in love, everything would change. Sure, it was understandable that he would spend his birthday with his lover, made complete sense.

Zhengting guessed that not informing him about the change will also be the status quo now.

The elevator dinged and Zhengting got in. Just as the doors were about to close, Wenjun’s bare stick-like ankles had appeared in the wedge, causing the doors to open up again.

“Zhengting, I’m sorry!” he said earnestly. “I didn’t pay attention to the time, I am really-really sorry!”

“It’s all right,” Zhengting told him, his voice very neutral despite all the anger behind it. “I understand,” he said while pressing the close button, but Wenjun didn’t let the doors go.

“Zhengzheng, I have to go back now, but you have to understand: this is not what you think,” Wenjun told him.

Zhengting couldn’t stop himself in time and let out a bitter laugh. “What am I supposed to even think?”

“Zheng… just… I’ll come over later tonight, okay? You’ll be working on what you wanted to show me anyway, won’t you? I’ll explain everything then.” Wenjun tried to bargain with a hint of desperation in his voice.

“You have nothing to explain, really!” Zhengting told him.  “Have fun with Ling Chao. Try not to break his heart. And don’t bother to come over, I have plans tonight.”

As he was walking back towards his car with a strange aching in his chest, he pulled out his phone to send a text.

_Still need that rope tonight? Change in plans and I have time to squeeze in an execution._

He didn’t have to wait long for a response.

 **Yanjun _:_** _Nah, changed my mind on killing myself. But you can still bring the rope, I’m sure we can find a way to make use of it after dinner._

 **Zhengting** _: Great. It’s a date._

 

“Zhengting this is breath-taking!”

Ziyi literally drooled on the studio’s carpet when Zhengting brought in his creation a week later after business hours, so they could use the machine in the sewing room of the design department for the final touches, since it was a newer model than the one in Zhengting’s home. During the past week, Zhengting spent most of his free time in his workroom at home, labouring over this one piece of fabric to make it perfect and he really felt that his hard work had paid off handsomely. Because it truly was a masterpiece: the design, the patterns, the fabric all complimenting each other perfectly and Zhengting had never done such fine work before on craftmanship either than he did on this four-piece arrangement.

“Right? And wait until you see it on Zeren! It’s mesmerizing!” Zhengting heard Xukun’s enthusiastic voice from behind himself as he was busy stitching up a seam with careful hands. He looked up to Zeren to send him a smile, only to see the young photographer blush furiously.

“I can tell,” Ziyi hummed distractedly. Zhengting only heard a voice of paper scratching as if a page is being turned and looked up to see what Ziyi was doing in panic: the head of his design team was scanning through the sketchbook. “Zhengzheng, did you make designs for a whole collection of these? They look fantastic!”

“Yeah, I found the flow, I guess,” Zhengting shrugged. “But we’re only making this one, don’t think any of it.”

“Why?” Ziyi looked at him confused. “They are fantastic, they’re unique and fresh yet sophisticated. It’s every fashion designer’s freaking wet dream! It could be the highlight of any fashion week if we pitch this idea for them.”

“And completely zero at commercial value and so far off the usual style of our brand’s signature that we can’t make them proper showpieces either. It’s a waste of time and materials. This one is a fun art project for me, nothing else.”

“All right,” Ziyi raised his hands in surrender. “You’re the boss, bro. It’s your call, I am not saying anything anymore.”

“Good,” Zhengting nodded. “Then let’s fit this on Zeren and let’s make art!”

Xukun was ecstatic about the photoshoot. He was constantly changing the lighting, tested out different angles, instructed Zeren to look here or there, all Zhengting was supposed to do is hold the camera and click the shutter button apparently. Meanwhile the junior photographer couldn’t stop raving about how great Zeren looks, how this burgundy colour of the jacket matches his skin tone perfectly (considering how Zeren barely stopped blushing the whole time, this was no surprise) and just how much in awe he was at Zhengting’s tailoring.

“Well, it’s easy to make something look good on the perfect figure!” Zhengting declared smiling at the two of them.

“Indeed, it is,” Xukun nodded in agreement. “For someone with your eye for fashion, this is a child’s play.”

Zhengting just laughed and winked at Zeren conspiratorially. The younger just rolled his eyes.

 

The next day, Zhengting might have spent his entire lunch break in his office, instead of actually eating something properly as he was busy editing Zeren’s pictures. He decided to make a nine-grid set out of it and post it on his personal Weibo page, tagging Zeren in all the pictures, mentioning that the suit was his design in the captions. He felt proud of his work, no one could blame him, okay? He didn’t have that many followers anyway: despite being a sort-of local celebrity at least in Shanghai social circles, not many people associated him personally with Yuehua Fashion, so even if his company was quite popular on the national market, he himself had stayed relatively invisible from the public eye.

The first notification to pop up on his phone was that Lin Yanjun shared his post. Zhengting smiled fondly: he wasn’t that surprised that the other CEO had him on notifications.

Because he may have been spending most of his free time with this little project of his, but a certain Lin Yanjun had definitely not felt neglected by the designer. The two of them met up at least four or five times in the past week, all of these occasions lasting well into the nights that should have been spent with actual sleeping, considering their own busy schedules during the days.

As he was about to wrap up, someone had burst in on his office door without knocking. Zhengting looked up, only to look at Wenjun’s desperate eyes. He was surprised to see him here: they haven’t seen each other since that awkward encounter on the younger’s birthday.

“You know that there’s nothing between me and Ling Chao, right?” he asked. “And I’ll have you know that he himself was aware of that when he decided to leave the party together with me. His heart is not broken whatsoever.”

“Hello to you too, Wenjun!” Zhengting said. “It’s really nice of you to stop by at my own company’s building, uninvited and not even knocking at my office door. It would have been funnier if you do this like ten minutes later when I am in a video conference with my Hunan distributors.”

“Zhengting,” Wenjun’s voice was so serious, it shocked the CEO for a minute. “I hate that you’re mad at me and you avoid me. I know that my birthday was supposed to be our night, but I got very-very drunk at the party and I got up really late and I really didn’t look at the time. My blinds were closed didn’t even saw the daylight either. I got carried away. You don’t know how sorry I am! I can’t bare not talking to you, please! I would do anything to earn your forgiveness!”

Zhengting gave him a side-eyed look.

“So, you didn’t hurt Ling Chao after all?”

Wenjun shook his head firmly.

“Good,” Zhengting said in the end. “Then you can come with me to meet Yanlei this evening. I’ll go see his new restaurant building.”

Wenjun groaned.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Zhengting raised an eyebrow mockingly. “I misunderstood you begging for my forgiveness just a minute ago. I guess visiting our dear friend in common does not count as anything!”

“I am driving.”

 

“So, this had been the ground floor,” Yanlei gestured enthusiastically. “Most of this would be the restaurant, that’s the first step of my business plan. Then I am planning to convert the other four floors into a little hotel and I thought the rooftop would be a great venue for events. The view is spectacular! You can see the riverbank and the Oriental Pearl Tower, it’s perfect!”

Well, Dong Yanlei could certainly dream big. That was Zhengting’s only thought as he looked around the shabby, mouldy old warehouse building that was a miracle that wasn’t demolished yet so someone could build a carpark in its place.

“Yanlei…” he started hesitantly. “I know how much you want this, but… this place is waste of resources. It will take an incredible amount of work, time and money to make this work. I don’t think this is the best choice for you.”

“But I have most of the money for the renovation of the ground floor,” Yanlei said. “I would be fine with that just now and I only need just a very small loan from the bank to make it happen. That’s why I was hoping you would help me.”

Zhengting raised his eyebrows in question.

“I sort of need warranty.”

That was what Zhengting was afraid of.

Don’t misunderstand him: he would really like to help Yanlei out. But this was a huge risk for him: he knew Yanlei doesn’t have anything that worth enough to put down as mortgage, so he would be the one risking Yuehua Fashion or his apartment.

“I am not saying, you should risk anything, Zhengzheng,” Yanlei explained. “That would be the last I would want for you, when you have done so much for me already. I am just asking you to help me find someone, an investor or something. I’m afraid to go with the bank.”

Zhengting looked over at Wenjun, who gave him a puzzled look.

“Let me think about it, all right?” Zhengting told him.

“That’s all I wanted! Thank you so much!” Yanlei smiled at him happily.

“You better have a discount for me later on!” Zhengting teased him.

“You kidding? You can eat here for free for the rest of life, obviously!” Yanlei told him enthusiastically. Zhengting tried not to cringe: that was exactly why he was worried that Yanlei’s business would fail.

 

“Gege!”

Zeren’s screech was heard from his bedroom all the way down to Zhengting’s workroom that evening.

“You’re not going to believe what just happened!” he exclaimed, storming into the room with great enthusiasm.

“You want me to go deaf and you figured out a way to do it?” Zhengting asked in a snippy tone.

“No!” he yelled back, still in full volume. “Kun ge had shared your pictures on his Weibo! Look!”

He held out his phone to Zhengting who had noticed how it was blowing up with notifications. He looked at the post, smirking at the additional caption.

“Someone is whipped!” he noted jovially.

“What?” Zeren asked.

“The caption! _Captivating subject, captivating artist! I love my new job and the people there @dzrphotos @THEOzzt_? Can he be more obvious?” Zhengting rolled his eyes.

“Ah… that’s not the point I was going to make…” Zeren blushed. “Zheng, Kun ge has fifteen million followers, he is super popular! People have been liking my photos and started following me for hours now. Someone even sent me a private message that they want to buy one! It’s so exciting! And it’s all because I was tagged in the post!”

“Huh, I told you how you should have posted selfies ages ago,” Zhengting told the younger. “I know you want to be recognized for your art and everything, but people tend to notice good art more if it is paired with a pretty face. Why do you think Xukun has fifteen million followers?”

“Come on, that’s not it! Then how come you don’t have much followers?”

“Because I’m selling my art with other people’s pretty faces! That is called the modelling industry, you might have heard about it before,” Zhengting laughed. “Besides, my art is on Yuehua Fashion’s page, so if you think about it, all those followers I have are there for the sole reason of my pretty face and then I would say, I can be proud of those numbers.”

Zeren chuckled, shaking his head.

“You know that’s not how it actually works, right? You don’t make any sense, ge.”

“Of course, I do! But my point about you still stands. Post a selfie now and then, okay?” Zhengting said. “But let’s not ignore the fact that Xukun is completely all over you.”

A hesitant smile appeared on Zeren’s face.

“All right, you might have a point about him liking me,” Zeren admitted. “And it’s really… flattering. So, I might like him too?”

Zhengting let out a delightful squeal.

“I knew you should give him a chance!” Zhengting claimed. “Will you ask him out, then?”

“I shouldn’t though…” Zeren hesitated. “I mean I’m his boss basically. Should he feel obligated to go out with me then?”

“I’m pretty sure that officially Ziyi is the boss of you two, you’re just his company senior,” Zhengting corrected him. “And that’s no excuse! We just established he likes you!”

“Well, then maybe I should give it a try, don’t I?” Zeren asked. “Maybe a coffee tomorrow or something.”

“That sounds like a good start!” Zhengting winked at him enthusiastically. He was still screaming internally: he couldn’t wait to see Zeren finally happy again.

 

“So, what is this social gathering that Dinghao wants everyone to go?” Yanjun asked. He stretched over the bed in the hotel room he was currently living in, his voice a little muffled since his nose was buried into the back of Zhengting’s neck as the younger lounged on his stomach, lazily scrolling through his messages. Yanjun just got out from the shower, his hair still a little vet giving a cool sensation to Zhengting’s bare back as he started nibbling on the expose skin. Zhengting himself had also only wore a towel: he got out of the shower before Yanjun went in – ages ago, let me tell you – but he was just too lazy to actually get up from the soft sheets.

 “Social gathering? We just go to a bar and drink together,” he snorted. “I finally going to meet the famous You Zhangjing.”

Yanjun stopped his ministrations and raised his head.

“Wow, his highness is actually holding court tonight?” he asked, his voice strangely strained. Zhengting raised an eyebrow at that. He turned a little bit around to see his companion’s face, trying to figure out the reason behind the sudden malice from the Taiwanese boy.

“Have you met him before?”

“Hm. I did,” Yanjun confirmed very courtly. “He went to university with me.”

“Oh, then you do know him. Is he that bad?” Zhengting chuckled. “I mean, he’s friends with Dinghao and the rest of his lot, he can’t be that bad!”

Yanjun looked at him, sighing a little.

“Nah…” he smirked, shrugging casually. “I probably don’t know him enough. Is he moving here alone?”

“I’m not sure,” Zhengting said, as he finally decided to get up and grab his clothes. “Dinghao never mentioned anyone moving with him.”

“Huh, interesting.”

“Why?”

“I thought he would bring his little boytoy with him.”

Zhengting froze, his eyes wide. “His what?”

“A guy he brought to Beijing with him when he moved there from Taipei.”

“That can’t be true!” he said in disbelief.

“I am telling you! I was friends with Linong when he did that,” he said as he also got up, disappearing into his closet to find a suit he needed, which frustrated Zhengting to no end.

“You can’t just drop a bomb like that and walk away!” he exclaimed, following the other into the closet. “Tell me the story!”

“Maybe you gossip too much, honey!” Yanjun teased, smirking.

“And maybe you are an asshole!” Zhengting snapped back. “Tell me what happened!”

“Alright,” Yanjun sighed. “Linong was a friend of mine, he went to high school with my sister and worked part-time in my favourite bookstore on the university campus. He was such a sweet boy, very kind and cute. You would have adopted him immediately. He lived alone, because his mom had to move for a career opportunity, but he stayed so he could finish high school there. I kind of felt protective over him. After some time, I noticed how he hangs out all the time with You Zhangjing, going on a bunch of events with him, he was in clubs that he was way too young to be in. I tried to tell Zhangjing to stop taking advantages of his innocence and I also warned Nongnong to be cautious, but I failed. The next thing I hear is that Zhangjing is moving to Beijing for a job and Linong is going with him.”

Zhengting’s eyes narrowed.

“So, when his mom went away, he insisted on staying and graduating high school in Taipei, but he followed Zhangjing nonetheless?” he asked in complete disbelief.

Yanjun shook his head sadly.

“The only explanation I could think of is that Zhangjing seduced him,” Yanjun sighed. “Love can make you do stupid things.”

Zhengting hummed as he finished buttoning up his dress shirt.

“I understand. That’s why I told you: love is not really my thing. I am not going to fall in love with anyone ever.”

He reached for his discarded dress pants in the middle of the room. As he bent down for it, he could feel Yanjun’s gaze practically burning holes into his backside. He turned around to look at the older and noticed a strangely hurt expression on his face.

Could it be? That would be a disaster.

“Oh my god. Ge, I hope I didn’t lead you on, please forgive me if you feel like I did!” He immediately backtracked, taking a few steps back towards the elder. Yanjun seemed confused at his reaction and then laughed.

“No, Zhengzheng. You have been pretty clear about that from the beginning.” He said between bouts of laughter, crossing a distance between them, sneaking an arm around Zhengting’s waist, kissing him softly on the lips. “Besides, I have also told you. There was a time, when I thought I am going to epically fall in love and spend the rest of my life with my lover, but then I had a serious wakeup call.” His hands sneaked under the hem of Zhengting’s shirt, gently caressing the small of his back. “I’m just a little surprised about you saying that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I didn’t want to pry that one time like three weeks ago, but you seemed pretty upset when your plans fall apart with Wenjun. And then we ran into each other the other day and he was acting quite cold around me for some reason,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong I enjoy what we’re doing. Very much. But is there a story there? I don’t want to antagonize anyone.”

Zhengting could really believe what he was hearing. Him and Wenjun? He started laughing.

“No,” he shook his head and sneaked his arms around the elder’s neck. “Wenjun and I had never been like that. We had known each other for ages we’re like brothers to each other. And in law as well.”

“In law?”

“My sister is married to his brother. That’s how we met,” Zhengting explained. “And don’t worry about his attitude, he really is a sweet guy, but he has a hard time opening up to people. We have been close friends for a long a time now. When I first moved to Shanghai, his help was completely godsent. He was there when no one else was, so his friendship had become invaluable to me.”

“So, you were just upset because you felt like he didn’t value your friendship as much, I get it,” Yanjun nodded thoughtfully. “I felt the same with Linong, I guess.”

Zhengting chuckled softly.

“We get each other very well.”

“I had that feeling too,” Yanjun replied smoothly, slowly leaning in, his face only a breath away from the younger’s. “Maybe our lives would be easier if we would actually fall in love with each other. We would just get married, adopt endless count of dogs and orphans. We would be the best power couple ever.”

Zhengting felt his heart warm over this scene.

This was strange. So far, he was pretty sure he didn’t want Yanjun that way, but thinking about it, the thought of a life like that felt like a good option. He never thought that that’s what he wanted before.

Maybe it was because of Yanjun? He wasn’t sure.

The older kissed him deeply this time, his hands exploring under his shirt more aggressively. Zhengting had to stop him: he had Dinghao’s pub night to attend.

“And you do as well,” he added as he grabbed Yanjun’s arms from around him, setting them back to the sides of their owner. “Or was dinner with your friend just an excuse to avoid You Zhangjing?”

“No, it’s really happening,” Yanjun hummed. “But Honglin wouldn’t mind if I am little bit late for all the right reasons.”

“You said that he is married and has a tiny toddler and you’re going to eat dinner at his house with all of them,” Zhengting raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think that having a fourth round with me today is acceptable excuse in this situation.”

“I think there is no better excuse than that!” Yanjun argued teasingly. “I’m flying back on Sunday and I don’t think we will have much time until then, and I didn’t hear you complain.”

“I wasn’t planning to,” Zhengting laughed. “But my friends will, if I don’t show up. Is there any chance you join us later, after your dinner? Maybe if you get me drunk enough, I will get back here with you.”

Something in Yanjun’s eyes glinted at the suggestion.

“That’s tempting…” he admitted. “Maybe I will catch you up on that. I wish I wouldn’t need to go home; we had such a short time together. But I have been here for almost a month now and I’m still a CEO... my company needs me, unfortunately.”

“Yeah, I know. But I think we made the best of what we had.”

“It’s still a pity we wasted that first week. You should have given me your number at the café.”

“Well,” Zhengting shrugged giving Yanjun one last kiss on his lips. “There can always be a next time, can't there?”

 

As soon as Zhengting entered the pub he had spotted Zeren at the bar chatting away with an unknown man. He made the beeline for them, though the bar was packed with his friends, it was hard to avoid contact with them. After suffering a huge bearhug from a slightly tipsy Chaoze and an also not-so-sober Ruotian kissing him on the forehead, he reached one of the stools beside the photographer, collapsing on it, signalling the bartender as well.

“Did you order already?” he asked. “I’ll invite you for this round.”

“Yes, we’re fine here,” he said, while the guy Zhengting didn’t know nodded along. The older was just about to introduce himself when Zeren interrupted him. “You look well-fucked.”

“Zeren!”

“What? It’s the truth, isn’t it?” The younger asked as if not understanding the problem.

“Even if it is, a gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell!” Zhengting argued. Zeren let out a huge snort at that.

“And where is that gentleman?”

“Zeren, your friend over there has never even met me!” Zhengting said indignantly.

“It’s okay,” the other man smiled widely. His dismissal seemed genuine enough, his face radiating kindness. “I get the same from my judgy friends whenever I have a boyfriend. It’s like a man is not allowed to have a sex life!”

“Right? I think it’s because they don’t have one and they’re just jealous!” Zhengting said mockingly while looking at Zeren.

“I think that’s exactly that!” the other said.

The young photographer pushed his shoulder.

“That’s a low blow, ge!”

Zhengting laughed.

“I’m just messing with you!” he said. “Come on, I will pay for you two.”

“It’s really not necessary!” Zeren’s friend protested. Zhengting dismissed it, handing Zeren his gin tonic as the younger spotted one of the darts boards getting available, dashing off. He patted a quite cheerful Xukun on the shoulder, tagging him along to join him in the game.

“It’s okay, I insist,” Zhengting smiled. “You will learn quickly enough if you hang out with our lot, that you should seize any opportunity when someone offers you to buy a drink. They can be like leeches, annoying and sucking you dry. They’re lucky I love them to death, my babies.” he explained.

The other one nodded.

“I get that vibe. You seem more like… a family so far,” He mused, a soft smile playing on his lips. “A close-knit, huge and very noisy family.”

“But we are also very welcoming!” Zhengting added with a kind smile, encouraging his new friend. “Is everyone drunk already, and you are holding down the fort?”

“More or less,” the man hummed. “I think the general noise of this room is a good indicator that the spirits are… rising. Someone was mentioning something about karaoke?”

“Oh gosh, I hope there won’t be karaoke!”

“Why? Are they that bad?” the other man laughed.

“Surprisingly no. They are quite okay,” Zhengting admitted, pursing his lips. “But it can be embarrassing as they raise the alcohol level. And they think that if they get me drunk, I’ll sing for them too.”

“Do you sing?”

“Definitely no!” Zhengting protested. “Only for the showerhead at home.”

“That can still be good singing.”

“It might be, but I am far from a professional. Are you any good?”

“I used to sing a lot during university. Solo, choir, even in a college band, I loved it. And I was okay-ish.”

“Then you should sing!” Zhengting claimed. “You’ll still be better than the drunken squad.”

The other man let out a hearty laugh. “Only if you sing with me!”

Zhengting blushed.

“Okay, you got me there,” He chuckled. He retrieved his own drink and the man’s: they both ordered Vodka Martini. Zhengting felt impressed: a man after his own heart. “So, what brings you here?”

“Dinghao. Wasn’t he the one to invite everyone here? Or is this a weekly thing with you?”

“It’s not like everyone gets together in every Friday or something” Zhengting said. “But yes, we hang out a lot here and there. But this is a special occasion for some reason.”

“I thought this is their sort of house-warming party. Just it’s held in here, because they can’t fit this many people in their place,” the man admitted.

“Is it?” Zhengting looked at him confused. “I didn’t bring a gift or anything.”

“I don’t think you were supposed to bring one,” he replied “I brought them a nice potted plant and they were all weird about it for some reason. Maybe this isn’t a house-warming party at all. Or they just don’t have enough room in their apartment to put it away,” he suddenly stopped speaking and looked up at Zhengting with his eyes wide and embarrassed. “You didn’t hear me say that. Their new home is just fabulous, obviously. They are very happy in it.”

Zhengting laughed out loud.

“Don’t worry, I am not going to tell them,” Zhengting reassured him. “I had a very similar reaction when they showed it to me.”

“Who showed what to you?” Xinchun’s voice suddenly interrupted them from behind Zhengting: the younger’s arms went around Zhengting’s torso, borrowing his face in the elder’s nape. “I thought you’re not even coming, ge. We missed you.”

“I am here, you big baby,” Zhengting laughed, patting Xinchun’s arm affectionately. “Where is your better half?”

“Somewhere over the stage,” Xinchun mumbled. “They’re setting up the karaoke machine.”

The man who Zhengting was chatting with – hey, he forgot to ask his name! – snorted into his drink, trying to disguise it as a sneeze.

“Oh, so you two have finally met!” Xinchun exclaimed, noticing the short man. “Dinghao wanted to introduce you!”

Zhengting rolled his eyes. “Dinghao wants to introduce me to a lot of people nowadays.”

“I haven’t heard you complaining about the last one!” Xinchun pushed himself away from Zhengting, blowing at his neck playfully, trying to tickle him. “That’s a nice hickey you have here, totally unrelated to the subject!”

Zhengting blushed a little and was about the retort angrily to make Xinchun stay out of his business, but he was interrupted.

“Oh, so you are Zhu Zhengting!” The man exclaimed, smiling warmly. “I should have guessed, you are just like I have imagined you!”

“Huh?” Zhengting looked at him confused.

“Okay, I promise I’m not weird!” The man laughed embarrassed, his face turning into a pretty shade of scarlet. “I just heard so much about you and I am a fan of your work. I couldn’t wait to meet you!” he put down his drink on the bar and reached out for Zhengting’s right hand with both of his.

“I am You Zhangjing, it’s really nice to meet you!” he said with an enthusiastic smile on his face.

“Oh” Zhengting let out a surprised sound before he could stop himself.

 _Well, you are definitely NOT what I imagined you,_ he thought to himself.

But Zhu Zhengting wasn’t the centre of the Shanghai social life for no reason.

“Oh, Zhangjing!” he exclaimed with a huge smile. “I have been waiting to meet you in ages! I love your work, it’s pretty fantastic! Congratulations on the promotion and everything.”

“Ah, you are too kind!” Zhangjing dismissed it. “The only reason I even have this job is out of luck that you, the top contender for the post dropped out. I mean, my luck. Not yours, obviously. I mean, it was a tragedy, I’m sure it must have been awful for you, losing a close family member. I am so sorry, I can’t stop babbling!”

“It’s alright, really,” Zhengting dismissed his apology. “I’m sure you would have gotten the job anyway, even if I had an opportunity to stay in the race.”

“Ah no, my boss literally told me that, so I’m not exaggerating,” Zhangjing said.

“Oh, then I guess you are right,” Zhengting agreed awkwardly. “But who cares? You have been doing a wonderful job ever since then. I mean that asymmetric, olive green gown on your last summer collection? I couldn’t stop raving about it for days, ask anyone!”

“I’m glad you liked it, because I’m all over your work all the time!” Zhangjing groaned. “That beautiful piece you just posted on your Weibo? You know the one with your friend, Zeren? It was breath-taking! Really, I was genuinely hoping that you would be open to a collab soon. My debut runway for the Shanghai division is approaching impossibly quick and I am scared shitless, to be really honest!”

Zhengting didn’t know what to think about all this. On one hand, You Zhangjing didn’t seem like someone that was faking it and he seemed to genuinely like Zhengting. Hell, if he was really honest with himself, the man seemed kind and funny, Zhengting might genuinely like him back… if it wasn’t for everything Yanjun had told him. Sure, he could get past over every little grudge he had had towards this man prior to actually meeting him. He wasn’t that petty! But the story Yanjun told him was to be quite right, downright awful.

Maybe You Zhangjing was even better at faking kindness than he was?

“Is that Bi Wenjun?” Zhangjing suddenly said, looking over Zhengting’s shoulder, his smile widening, even if it seemed impossible. He laughed out in joy, standing up from his stool, turning towards the figure approaching from behind Zhengting. “What is this place, if they let uncoordinated beanpoles in here?” he asked teasingly extending his arms widely. Zhengting turned towards Wenjun just as the model had approached them, mirroring Zhangjing’s smile just as widely.

Zhengting haven’t seen Wenjun smiling this wide in a very long time. He didn’t smile at him like this, for sure.

“You Zhangjing, was the entrance wide enough for you?” he laughed back, walking right into the designer’s embrace, the two of them hugging tightly.

Zhengting didn’t know that they got this close in Beijing.

“I see the two of you are quite chummy…” Xinchun voiced out Zhengting’s thoughts very accurately.

“Well, you have to be, after all we went thought for that hell of a runway show!” Wenjun said, shivering at the thought. Zhangjing had a very similar reaction to the memory.

“Don’t even remind me of that!” Zhangjing told him off. It really bothered Zhengting that the older man still didn’t let go of Wenjun’s arm. What if Zhangjing was trying to find his new “boytoy” with Wenjun? “I still have nightmares about it. It’s a miracle that everyone’s career survived that night!”

“That sounds like an interesting story,” Xinchun commented.

“For another day, sorry Chun,” Wenjun said, disentangling himself from Zhangjing’s body, turning towards Zhengting to embrace him as well.

“You are awfully quiet,” Wenjun murmured into his ear worriedly while he was hugging him. “And you don’t smell like usual.”

“I’m fine, don’t worry!” he reassured him quietly, but he knew Wenjun wouldn’t believe that. “I’ll tell you later, OK?”

“Zhengting was late as well, Wenjun ge” Xinchun wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Zhengting rolled his eyes.

“Don’t look so smug about it!”

“But he should!” A wild Dinghao appeared seemingly out of nowhere, scaring the hell out of Zhengting. “We knew you two would hit it off, so we are kind of proud that we were right.”

Xinchun hummed in agreement. “Yes, Hao ge and I are thriving towards your post as top matchmaker in this town, just you wait, we’ll surpass you any minute.”

“Matching the matchmaker!” Dinghao giggled. “The best way to advertise a business.”

“So, if I want a boyfriend, which one of you I should turn to then?” Zhangjing laughed.

“None of them!” Wenjun patted him on the shoulder. “They are all ridiculous.”

“Excuse me, I haven’t heard these two complaining before!” Zhengting argued. “Or Justin and Chengcheng! Or Mubo ge And Fen ge! Or…”

 “Alright, alright, we get it!”

“If anyone is ridiculous is them! They didn’t get me a boyfriend and he won’t be my boyfriend, there is nothing serious between us!”

“You’re saying that now, but you haven’t seen the two of you lately,” Dinghao said. “You both are smitten with each other, it’s obvious that you’ll fall in love eventually!”

“Where is he anyway?” Xinchun asked. “He was supposed to be here, he is travelling back to Taipei tomorrow, isn’t he? Shouldn’t this be his farewell party as well?”

“Yeah, he does, but he said he has other friends in this town that he wanted to visit,” Dinghao shrugged and turned to Zhengting. “So far, I thought it’s just code that he will spend whole night with you. Again.”

Zhengting gave Dinghao a striking look. It must have come across as menacing as Zhengting intended it to be, because the older man cowered back a little behind his boyfriend.

“He is flying back on Sunday, not tomorrow,” the young CEO corrected passive-aggressively. “And he really is visiting a friend and his family tonight.”

“Which friend? I know everyone he knows in this city.”

“He said his name is Honglin?” Zhengting said, not sure it would be a useful information to the younger.

“Honglin? Bei Honglin?”

“I guess.”

“That’s… that’s wonderful!” Dinghao exclaimed with a little enthusiastic jump.

“Erm.. alright,” Zhengting said, hesitating. “Why is it so wonderful?”

“Zhengzheng, Honglin is a real-estate agent!” Dinghao explained. “The best one in town.”

“Woah!” Xinchun gasped then smirked knowingly. “So, it’s really happening then, huh?”

“What is?” Wenjun asked.

“Lin Yanjun is moving to Shanghai,” Xinchun claimed.

“Oh…”

Dinghao and Xinchun probably missed it, but Zhengting didn’t: Zhangjing let out a small sound, his face suddenly losing a little bit of its happy, flushed colour. The older designer quickly took a sip of his Vodka Martini, masking his surprise efficiently from the others except for Zhengting.

Was he worried that his seemingly-kind façade would crumble with Yanjun here?

“And, we all know why he is moving here, don’t we?” Dinghao looked at Zhengting smugly. “He told me yesterday that he didn’t find much purpose here before. I guess, something changed his mind, right? Or rather I might say… someone?”

“Or…” Zhengting said, his voice cold. “He is having dinner with a dear friend of his that he hasn’t seen in years, regardless of that friend’s occupation.”

“Maybe” Dinghao hummed, exchanging an exasperated look with Xinchun. “Or maybe not. Who knows?”

“Why don’t we just go play karaoke?” Wenjun changed the subject abruptly. “Come on, I want to wipe the floor with you, You Zhangjing!”

Zhangjing looked at Wenjun, rising with a competitive edge.

“You are so on, beanpole!”

 

There was a big armchair in Zhengting’s living room that didn’t match the rest of the furniture in the interior of the spacious penthouse. It was fluffy with plush seats that had been so worn no one really wanted to sit on it.

No one, except Bi Wenjun.

Every occupant of the house knew that the sole reason that one armchair had survived Zhengting’s iron-clad principals over the furniture in his house was that every time Wenjun was over, he would fold his entire body into that particular armchair, practically nesting in it with his long body, ridiculously bent but somehow still comfortable: sometimes even falling asleep sitting in it. Sometimes, Zhengting would join him, cuddle up to him: it was big enough for the both of them, if they wanted to share it.

It wasn’t any different that night either as the two of them got back from the pub with a giggly Zeren at their side. The youngest had gone to sleep immediately, but the two older men didn’t feel like doing so.

“I don’t believe this story,” Wenjun claimed while casually sitting down, making himself comfortable, facing Zhengting, who was lying on the sofa lazily. “I mean, this doesn’t sound like the Zhangjing I know at all.”

“Yanjun ge really dislikes him and that’s genuine,” Zhengting pointed out. “He doesn’t hate people without a reason just like that, it must be true!”

“You don’t know him that well, though. It has been what, three weeks, max since the two of you met?”

“But I honestly think that I had got to know him!” Zhengting argued. “He and I just connected I guess, we spent entire nights just talking!”

“Yeah, sure. Just talking,” Wenjun’s sarcastic face had seemed like he was in immense pain.

“Well, maybe not the entire night, but we talked a lot! We get to know each other pretty well. I can tell that he was telling a truth. Why would he lie?”

“Maybe he wanted to turn you against Zhangjing?”

“That’s just ridiculous!” Zhengting snapped. “Why would he want that?”

“I don’t know!” Wenjun exclaimed, running a hand through his hair. “But this thing between you two worries me, he worries me!” he burst out the words desperately. “Something feels off with him and you don’t see it, because he got you in his web or something. Isn’t he just a little bit too perfect for you? And showing up here like, out of nowhere?”

“Wenjun, Dinghao had known him for years now. If he was some evil manipulator as you think he is, wouldn’t he know that?”

“Alright, let’s say you are right and he was completely honest with you,” Wenjun backtracked in submission. “But Zhengzheng, if you are so sure of his character then believe that I am as sure with Zhangjing’s as you are! Hell, I have even met Linong! And there was nothing like that between the two of them!”

“Of course, there wasn’t anything anymore,” Zhengting huffed. “He was all over you tonight.”

“What does that supposed to mean?”

“That you should be careful. Maybe he wants you as his next boytoy or something.”

“Do you hear what you are saying, Zhengting?”

“Well, I don’t know, but what about you? Because I’m pretty sure that you just accused my boyfriend of being a freaking sociopath!”

Wenjun’s retort had frozen in his throat. He was leaning forward more and more while they were arguing, but suddenly he leant back.

“I thought he is not your boyfriend,” he said, his voice barely a whisper.

“Because he isn’t, it was a slip of tongue!” Zhengting groaned, his pent-up frustration leaving him with the breath. He suddenly got up and walked over to Wenjun and sat down: his bottom wedged between the arm cushions and Wenjun’s bony thighs, his legs thrown over the other arm as he snuggled himself up practically in the younger man’s lap.

“I don’t want to argue with you about this,” he mumbled into his shirt. “I hate arguing with you about anything.”

Wenjun sighed and bit back another retort: Zhengting could practically feel him swallowing deeply.

“I hate it too,” Wenjun agreed, finally relaxing into the embrace, letting his cheek rest on the crown of Zhengting’s head. “Let’s just agree that we don’t know enough about the situation to be sure, alright? Just… we shouldn’t make hasty decisions based on this,” he chuckled. “What the hell I’m talking, we should just stay out of their business altogether.”

Zhengting let out a breathless laugh, his anger dissipating quickly.

“I hate when you’re reasonable,” he said. “I prefer the meddling and gossipy Wenjun.”

“Some might say that’s not something that exist, you know,” he chuckled.

“Some don’t know you as well as I do, Xiao Jun.”

“No one knows me as well as you do, Zhengzheng” Wenjun said, gently caressing his best friend’s back.

_Not even Ling Chao. Not even You Zhangjing._

“Good. I’m glad we made this clear,” the elder declared. “Now, shut up and let me nap.”

“Go to your bed, Zhengzheng.”

“But I don’t have my trusted teddy bear in my bed with me!”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

Zhengting knew that he didn’t need to answer that question. Because if no one knows Wenjun better than Zhengting does, then the opposite is true as well. Wenjun knows exactly how much Zhengting hates sleeping alone and how much he needs someone with him: he would fuss around much less that way.

Because in the end, no one knew Zhu Zhengting more than Bi Wenjun as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the semester is ending for me in about two weeks and I am still alive and kicking, so it's fanfic time! \\(^.^)/ I still need to recuperate after this nightmare of a school year, but I wanna make time to write some more and actually read through this one with a fresh eye before posting the rest of it.  
> As I said in the notes at the beginning, this is not proof-read, so feel free to point out my mistakes!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one but things are happening.

_So ge, Honglin works in real estate?_

That was all Zhengting managed to type out to Yanjun the next morning. He hoped the older would understand the meaning behind the question, so far that wasn’t a problem between the two of them.

He sat his phone down and tried to pretend that he was busy with something else, when only a short minute later his phone dinged with an incoming text.

For a short moment, after hearing that cheerful sound, Zhengting’s heart thumped from anxiety.

What if Dinghao was right and Yanjun came right out and tell him that he was moving here for him, because he wanted a relationship with him? His thoughts were jumbled with imagining that: he enjoyed his time with the older, sure. But something didn’t feel right, even thinking about Yanjun as more than just a friend with the additional benefits. Even the accidental slip of tongue from last night had kept him awake with a strange sort of uneasiness for some time. He kept thinking and thinking how it felt wrong to think of the older like that for what it seemed like hours. Was he just scared from taking such a risky step? Should this be something that he pursued?

Swiftly he grabbed his phone and unlocked it: there was no use in agonizing over it any longer.

 **Yanjun** _: Yep._

That was all the text read. This made Zhengting think: what was he expecting, really? Or rather, what he was hoping for?

But then again, Zhengting felt a little bit silly for expecting any form of a love confession. After all, it was only yesterday when he told the older he should not expect any feelings from him. Even if he did thought of Zhengting in that sense, he wouldn’t just text this to him.

 **Zhengting** : _Dinghao was making assumptions._

He settled with his answer in the end.

 **Yanjun** : _Maybe he had the right idea._

Zhengting’s heart was beating faster now. He saw that Yanjun was typing something and then stopped and then started to type again after finally an additional message arrived.

 **Yanjun** : _Will I see you again when I come back? Around mid-January?_

 **Zhengting** : _Of course, if you want to. But that’s a long time from now._

 **Yanjun** : _I’m just trying to sort out what to do._

 **Zhengting** : _What do you mean?_

 **Yanjun** : _I got an invite to the Gucci fashion show and I’m sort of obligated to go. I was hoping you would come with me there. I’ll probably gonna need someone at my corner if I have to face You Zhangjing that night_.

Zhengting didn’t want to mention that he would probably be helping the other designer and wasn’t exactly sure whether he was in the other CEO’s “corner”, but he could sense something was upsetting Yanjun, so he typed an affirmative anyway.

 **Zhengting** : _Of course, I’ll be there. If that’s what you want._

 **Yanjun** : _Thank you._

Apparently, that was not everything that Yanjun got to say because his phone indicated yet another message from him.

 **Yanjun** : _Honglin and I had a serious talk last night. That’s why I didn’t join you in the end, sorry for that. He got me thinking about a lot of things, I wasn’t in a party mood._

Concern flared up in Zhengting reading those words.

 _Are you all right?_ He typed.

 **Yanjun** : _Not really._

It was a confession all right, but not exactly the type Zhengting was expecting. Nonetheless, he didn’t have an appropriate reaction ready for either type, so it didn’t matter. Before he could type out something meaningless and empty, his phone dinged again.

 **Yanjun** : _Zhengzheng, I know it’s obvious for you. These past few weeks were this phenomenal because you just get me. You are just insanely smart when it comes to people and probably know even the things I didn’t really say out loud. I really hope you would understand why I have to go home now._

Well, that was more explicit than Zhengting had expected it to be. What should he do? Did he want this? Should he encourage Yanjun to move here?

He would certainly like to have him here as a friend, as they’re right now, but if he makes him hope for something that Zhengting was not ready for or incapable to give, he would grow to resent him and that was something he would never forgive himself.

 **Zhengting** : _I understand. I hope you find what’s best for you._

That was the answer he settled on. He didn’t immediately know why, but he decided to add a second text in the end.

 **Zhengting** : _And I’ll be here for you either way._

Because Zhengting should at least give them a chance, give Yanjun an opportunity. To explore the possibility that it wasn’t just about the sex between the two of them.

Because Zhengting himself wasn’t sure about that either.

 **Yanjun** : _Thank you. That means more to me than you would think._

 

For the next week, Zhengting often found himself thinking about Yanjun in his downtime.

“Zeren,” he turned towards the younger one day as they looked through their new portfolio. “What do you think of Lin Yanjun?”

“I didn’t spend enough time with him to form an opinion,” Zeren hummed. “Why?”

“Wenjun hates him from some reason.”

“I’m not surprised.”

“What is that supposed to mean? Bi Wenjun doesn’t have a bad bone in his body! Him disliking someone so much is unusual!”

“Nothing, I meant nothing,” Zeren laughed nervously. “It’s just… sometimes, Wenjun can be very… overprotective of you.”

“I know. Right?” Zhengting burst out. Finally, someone had some sense. “It’s like he thinks I can’t be trusted with my own life!”

“Well, to be honest, you do the same with him.”

“Excuse me?” Zhengting raised his perfectly arched eyebrows. “Are you kidding me?”

“No, you do the same with him. You two are dangerously co-dependent. You were an absolute mess while he was away and he is no better than you. Yes, I can imagine him panicking that you suddenly have a boyfriend, maybe he thinks that he won’t have a place in your life anymore.”

That surprised Zhengting.

“But of course, he would have!” Zhengting exclaimed. “Yes, I might like Yanjun more than I let on and he might become my boyfriend, but Wenjun is so much more than that! Best friend is not the even right term, he is my… he is Wenjun!”

“All right…” Zeren laughed. “I get it. Make sure Wenjun knows that too, okay? And let us know if we need to look into apartment listings.”

Zhengting gave the photographer a scornful look.

“Yes, because the moment I start seriously date someone I will throw you, my _family_ out,” he said sarcasm dripping from his voice. “What do you all think of me?”

“It wouldn’t be that far fetched that you would like to live alone with your significant other after some time. It’s only the natural way of life. I mean, Xinchun moved out to live with Dinghao alone, didn’t he? It’ll happen to all of us, eventually.”

“Well, if that’s part of a serious relationship, then it’s definitely not my thing.” To be honest, Zhengting didn’t want to think about how in the end, even Justin was going to move out, so he shooed away the thought. “But I was kind of wrapped up in my own life lately. What’s up with you? Did you go out with Xukun already?”

 “Well, we had lunch together. And we always get coffee. It's fun, Xukun is a really nice person,” Zeren blushed. Zhengting just squealed.

“So, it’s safe to say you’re dating?”

“Ehm…” Zeren said worried. “I think we do, I don’t know.”

“Of course, you are! You should go out on a proper date. A dinner date or something!”

“It’s okay, I can wait. I don’t want to rush into anything after all that happened last time.”

“I see,” Zhengting hummed. “You have to make sure that he wants the same thing, I understand.”

Well, that could be helped. 

 

“How does dinner sound at that Italian fusion place a few streets away from here?” Zhengting scared the hell out of Xukun the next morning as he ran up to him with this sentence. “I know the place’s manager, I could make a reservation. I think you would love it.”

“What?” Xukun asked in disbelief, his eyes wide as saucers.

“I think it's about time for a proper date, don’t you agree?” Zhengting asked. At first, Xukun just looked at him stunned, his jaw slightly falling open. 

“Ah, all right,” he finally seemed to gather his wits, a smile slowly spreading on his lips, slightly blushing. This almost made Zhengting squeal with glee: finally, Zeren would be happy. Xukun’s phone started beeping furiously.

“I’m sorry Zhengzheng I have to run now, I'm out on a field job, and I won’t be available until seven. But what about eight o’clock tonight?”

“It’s all right, I’ll make the call,” Zhengting smiled. “Oh, should I tell Zeren too? Considering you would be busy.”

“What? Oh sure, tell him,” Xukun agreed, distracted. He waved at Zhengting smiling widely, stumbling a little over his feet as he rushed out of the studio.

 _Fantastic_ , Zhengting thought as he walked back to his office with a skip in his step, smiling widely at his confused employees.

 

“So, Zeren is on a date with Xukun, huh?” Wenjun hummed, sitting in his chair, observing the Jenga tower carefully. “I’ll admit I didn’t expect that to actually happen.”

Zhengting stretched like a cat with a smile on his face. “Well, you were wrong. Nothing new in that, don’t you all agree?”

“That’s unfortunately true,” Justin agreed as he slowly took a piece from the tower. “It can be annoying, but I had to learn to live with it since I was a child.”

“You better not complain, Huang Minghao!” Zhengting tutted pushing the youngest’s head playfully. Justin caressed the spot afterwards, grimacing.

“Are we going to sing Zhengting ge’s praises or play the game?” Chengcheng whined as he took another piece out of the tower, looking at Quanzhe expectantly.

“Can’t you multitask, Chengcheng?” Zhengting asked playfully.

“You know we love you, it's a pretty useless exercise,” Chengcheng shrugged as he watched Quanzhe almost collapsing the unstable tower. “The only thing I could possibly add is that we would love him even more, if he would just get a maid…”

“Hey guys!”

The voice startled Zhengting from the direction of the entrance. Zeren was back.

Wait... Why was Zeren back so early?

“Hey, Zeren!” Justin cooed. “How was your date?”

“I… had a good time,” Zeren said, obviously hesitating. “Can I join? I wanna play.”

Zhengting’s and Wenjun’s gaze slowly met. He saw the same concern in the younger’s eyes as he felt.

“It ended very early. Did you not like the food?” Zhengting asked.

“Whose turn is it?”

“Zeren!”

“We didn’t eat, ge.”

“Oh. Why not?”

Zeren took a piece out of the power.

“It’s your turn.” He said, looking at Zhengting.

“Not until you tell me what happened.”

“Leave it, ge. Please.”

“No. I won’t!”

“Alright,” Zeren slapped the Jenga brick at the table, the tower collapsing immediately. “I was walking around the riverbank alone, thinking. Xukun left right after the misunderstanding was cleared.”

Zhengting was stunned. Xukun would just leave? It didn't sound right: something else must have happened, Xukun was a great guy and he seemed so exited that afternoon about the date! 

“What misunderstanding?” he asked, hoping for further clarification. 

“That he is having a date with me instead of you,” Zeren stated bluntly. 

Zhengting’s jaw dropped, while the others just looked at the two of them, completely muted by the shock.

“I…” Zhengting couldn’t even find any words. "I'd never... It wasn't like that, how could he think? Oh baby, I'm so..." 

“It’s okay, Zhengzheng,” Zeren said. “I know you meant well, you don’t have to apologize, really. You did a good job even. This past few weeks definitely made me forget about Yanchen, I had fun. As long as the illusion lasted, anyway. Sorry for ruining your game, I’ll go to bed.” And without waiting any reaction from any of his roommates he stood up and went upstairs.

All the younger ones turned towards Zhengting, waiting for him to say anything.

“Zheng ge,” Quanzhe started hesitantly, but Zhengting stood up.

“I’m sorry, I have to go,” he claimed, his voice wavering, running upstairs. He knocked on Zeren’s door, but when the younger didn’t answer he went to sleep as well, guilt rising slowly in him like bile.

 

_Hello Zhengting,_

_I just wanted to tell you that I have met with Dong Yanlei. I wasn’t impressed, if I can be honest with you, he seemed like a bit of a village idiot, but his idea is not a bad one and his heart truly seems to be in it and he would fight tooth and nail for this, that I can tell. The question is if his best would be enough though. Since you were the one that connected us, and I trust your judgement and I am thinking about investing._

_I hope you are well, looking forward to your next collection!_

_Love,_

_Qin Fen_

Zhengting was reading through his incoming emails the next morning, but he couldn’t really concentrate on what he scanned through with his eyes. Over the night his guilt morphed into bitterness and anger over the whole predicament and he could barely hold back himself from yelling at his new photographer.

“Zhengting.”

The moment he heard the hesitant call from his open office door his anger boiled inside him tenfold. He looked up: Xukun was standing in the doorway, looking a little irritated.

“Do you have some time? I think we need to talk.”

Zhengting looked into Xukun’s eyes for a long moment, contemplating his answer.

“Close the door, please” he said, his voice surprisingly even considering all the repressed anger withheld in him. He waited for Xukun to obey: the younger man quietly closed the door and sat himself down in one of the chairs in front Zhengting’s desk. The CEO himself rose from his own chair and circled his desk, leaning against the table top in a seemingly casual manner looking at him expectantly, waiting for a proper explanation.

“I feel I was very much wrongfooted here, Zhengting,” he said. And that was it. Something in Zhengting snapped.

“Wrongfooted? YOU are wrongfooted? I thought you are going out with Zeren! Imagine how wrongfooted and humiliated he feels right now!” he said, his voice gradually raising in volume.

“Zeren and I are fine! We talked it out yesterday after the whole disaster… But why on Earth did you think that I have been dating Zeren?” Xukun asked also very irritated and in a louder voice than it was necessary, considering the small distance between the two of them.

“Didn’t you go out to lunch with him? And bought each other coffee and spent all of your time together geeking out about photography and everything you have in common?” Zhengting was practically yelling at this point.

“He is my colleague, we spend our time together because we work together! Of course we would go to lunch together! Of course we would drink coffee together. That’s what colleagues who are friendly with each other do!” Xukun exclaimed.

“But I thought you like him! Everything you said, everything you did… was it just acting for you?” Zhengting snapped.

“I like you! Everything suggestive I did was meant for you!” Xukun snapped back. “I mean, sure, Zeren is nice but who would want to go out with him, when they think they have a chance with you, you have to understand this!”

That rendered Zhengting speechless.

“Get out of my office,” he said quietly, anger boiling hotter than ever under his straight-faced surface. “I misunderstood you and you misunderstood me, it was a mistake at both ends. I apologize and I forgive you. But no one… and I repeat, no one can stand in here and insult my friends the way you just did.”

Xukun’s jaw dropped and he looked like as if Zhengting just slapped him.

“I’m sorry, really. I didn’t mean…”

“Get out and get back to your work, Xukun.”

 _While you have one, because I am not sure what I am going to do if you stand there any longer._ Zhengting thought. He heard the door open and shut with a swift sound and he tried to focus back on his work and force back his tears.

 

Zhengting was proud of himself for concluding his meetings efficiently like the complete professional he was supposed to be, considering the state he was in. For the rest of the day, he stayed in his office, his door shut, trying and failing to do anything productive.

Only when he arrived home he let himself curl up on his couch under a blanket, clutching his phone and waiting for Wenjun to answer his request to come over. He really needed the other right now, though not sure why and what the model could possibly help him with. The younger boys could feel that something was wrong with him and their concern and sympathy had brought a smile to Zhengting’s face. Justin cleaned up the whole place, while Chengcheng threw a game controller in his hands and proceeded to repeatedly lose against him on purpose and Quanzhe let Zhengting baby him without a word for a full hour: in one word, they all did what they know that Zhengting likes best. But the eldest knew that their real concern lied with Zeren, and so did his, nervously waiting for the photographer to come home, so they could talk.

Zeren didn’t come home that evening, but Wenjun did came in his stead.

“Do you have any idea what you have done?” was the irritated question Wenjun had opened with the moment he slammed the entrance door shut behind him.

“Wenjun, I really don’t need your lecture right now, I just want to apologize to Zeren,” he told the younger one with a dead voice.

“Well, that’s too late, because you screwed up even more and he can’t even look at you right now!” Wenjun yelled madly. “Hell, I have a hard time looking at you right now!”

“What do you mean?”

“They were fine! Yes, it was embarrassing for both of them, but they talked it out like adults and there were no hard feelings involved, they planned to let it pass. No one in the studio would have needed to know what went down last night. But no! You had to yell at Xukun for it at full volume, in the _office_ , completely humiliating both of them, don’t you? Now Xukun blames Zeren for the fallout with you and Zeren is a laughing stock with his co-workers!”

Zhengting’s eyes went wide as saucers.

“I just wanted to help and I was angry.”

“Angry at whom? Him? Why? Because he believed what every sane person would assume when you gave them that type of attention? Or you were just angry at yourself and taking out on him, completely ruining everything for the both of them in the process?”

Zhengting didn’t answer, the tears he tried to supress the whole day, coming to the surface with full force.

But Wenjun was not done, apparently.

“I warned you not to meddle with things because it’s not you who will end up hurt in the end, but those who we love. But you…”

“Wenjun ge, stop it,” Zeren’s sad voice rang through forcefully, causing Wenjun to turn towards the entrance.

“Zeren, you didn’t need to come here. I told you, you can stay in my flat!” Wenjun scolded the younger gently.

“I know you did,” Zeren nodded, patting Wenjun on the arm. “But what would me being angry at Zhengting ge solve?” He smiled down at Zhengting kindly. Zhengting looked back at him, tears now flowing freely over his face.

“No, Zeren,” He sobbed out, impatiently wiping the tears away. “Wenjun is right and I am furious with myself. How could I be so blind? It’s okay, if you can’t forgive me.”

Zeren sighed sitting down beside him, resting his head against Zhengting’s hunched shoulder calmly.

“And what exactly do I need to forgive you? For trying to get me through a heartbreak? For trying to make me feel better? Yes, you shouldn’t have done it, but I know you meant well. I love you, ge. You are more important than holding a petty grudge over nothing.

“But at the office…”

“Office gossip is office gossip. It’s pretty bad, but there had been far worse things and they all passed. It will be fine.” Zeren shrugged. “It seems to upset you way more than it upsets me, to be honest. I didn’t like Xukun that much, I guess.”

Wenjun huffed out loudly, rolling his eyes. He folded his arms and sat down in his chair, irritated, but said nothing.

“Zeren…” Zhengting started hesitation clear in his voice. “Answer me this and I promise I’ll do as you say.”

“All right, hit me with it.”

“Do you want me to fire Xukun?” he asked. “Because if you can’t work with him or he feels uncomfortable, I’ll send him away.”

“No, I don’t want that. And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want that. If you fire him now, everyone will talk even more. But will you be okay with him there after all this went down?”

Zhengting felt the fresh tears gathering in his eyes from gratefulness: here Zeren was asking if he would be alright after everything that happened.

“Of course, baby! And I swear I won’t do anything like this, ever again! I won’t meddle with your lives anymore!”

The little peanut gallery who was observing the whole thing from the kitchen had burst out in a disbelieving laugh.

“That is total bullshit,” Justin shook his head.

“There’s no way you will keep that promise, ge,” Chengcheng added.

“It’s as much of a part of you as your hair or something,” Justin finished. Zhengting hated when the two of them were in such sync because it was usually at his expense.

“Don’t listen to them!” Zeren chided him. “I believe you!” And with that, Zeren gave him a warm and honest hug. Zhengting squeezed back even tighter than usual, thinking how he did not deserve any of his friends.

After a long moment, they disentangled themselves and for a brief moment Zhengting’s eyes met with Wenjun’s. The younger man had turned his head away, avoiding him and he still said nothing.

Not everything was forgiven and Zhengting knew that. What he wondered was why.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You must mean a lot to him, you know, if he’s willing to leave his precious home behind for you. The Yanjun I knew would not have moved from Taipei for anything.”  
> Zhengting’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  
> “Really?”  
> “Really,” Zhangjing nodded, smiling. “I guess we all change.”  
> “Huh…” Zhengting couldn’t really hide his surprise.  
> “What?” Zhangjing smiled.  
> “Nothing, just… Then I really should give him a chance, I guess.” 
> 
> Zhengting has an enlightening conversation with Zhangjing, then a surprising one with his brother-in-law, New Year happens and Yanjun's return brings some interesting revelations.

“I thought I would minimalize the print usage here, but my director thinks that then we will lose brand recognition. So, I have a few alternative ideas and I was hoping you would take a look. All confidential of course, haha! I shouldn’t be sharing this with you, at all. After all we’re competitors… Zhengting, if you don’t wanna do this now, we can reschedule it later this week.”

“What?” Zhengting looked at the other absentmindedly. “Oh, no no! We can do this now, I’m just a little distracted. I’m sorry” He looked down on the plans spread over the workshop table. “Are you sure you should go with this colour? And is that satin?”

“Hmm… yes, I thought it would add a nice shine to it,” Zhangjing nodded.

“I think I would go with silk here and put this print over there…” Zhengting hummed rearranging the fabric thrown over each other, gesturing on the drawings. “That wouldn’t alter the cut, but the logo would have more attention.”

“It might work that way. It’s worth a try,” Zhangjing agreed. “But Zhengting, we really don’t have to do this now. Is everything all right?”

“Of course, don’t worry.”

“Are you sure?” Zhangjing raised an eyebrow. “I mean, I don’t mean to pry but I ran into Wenjun the other day, he said there was some drama with you all. If you need someone to listen… I know we don’t know each other very much, but I would like to help if I can.”

Zhengting scoffed.

“Oh, it’s just Wenjun who still makes it into a drama.”

And apparently, he was the one telling everything to his new bestie, You Zhangjing.

Things had been… tense between the best friends. Wenjun did not lash out on Zhengting after his initial anger but something felt off with the two of them: as if something has switched in the younger man and now, he cannot tolerate Zhengting anymore. The older knew that this day would come one day, when Wenjun leaves him behind, but he had hoped that it would be much-much later.

“Zhengting, look…” Zhangjing said. “I’ll be honest with you. I really want to be your friend, but I know that you don’t like me.”

Zhengting gave the older man a surprised look.

“That’s really not the situation here…” he started, hesitating a little. “I mean, yes I was super jealous of you for your job, but I am not holding grudges to that extent.” Zhangjing’s warm, chocolate eyes just stared into his as the other designer just smiled sadly.

“I am almost completely certain that Yanjun told you everything about me,” he said bluntly.

“Oh…” Zhengting didn’t know what to say about that. If he came to think of it, it has been almost two weeks since the older man flew back to Taipei and Zhengting didn’t give him a single thought since first days of his absence.

But no one could blame him: all the drama with Zeren and Xukun, Wenjun barely talking to him and everything else that needed to be done before the new year at the company had kept him very preoccupied.

“I… really wish you wouldn’t form an opinion about me because of that,” Zhangjing continued, sighing tiredly. “I was young and an idiot. I made mistakes. But it’s in the past, so I really wish that you would give me a chance and get to know me properly. I don’t really know anyone else in the city other than Dinghao and Chaoze. Ah, and Wenjun, I guess… he is an incredible guy. But it can be very lonely like this, you know. I could use a friend and I feel like we could be great.”

“I…” Zhengting started to say. He understood the other man, more than Zhangjing would have imagined, because he had also been there. Completely alone, in a new city, surrounded by many people who were just waiting for him to crash. He still remembered that first month in Shanghai with a shudder: he was miserable. Then, as if he was sent by a higher power, Bi Wenjun showed up at his doorstep, with a little travel bag, claiming to be on a holiday and wanting to “crash at Zhengting’s new place”. Not much later he causally announced that he found an awesome apartment a few streets away from there, which would be perfect since he was getting a more Shanghai-based contract anyway. Zhengting knew that wasn’t true, but he welcomed his friend anyway. Everything didn’t become better in an instant, but Zhengting at least had someone to come home to and share his struggles. Someone he could genuinely trust and rely on.

So yes, Zhengting could understand Zhangjing more than he would think. And he really wanted to help him, despite everything he thought about him. The young CEO cursed at himself internally: he shouldn’t be like this. Zhangjing still could be an awful person, just because he was having the same struggles of relocation as he himself did, didn’t justify everything.

His hesitation must have shown on his face because Zhangjing interrupted him again before he could say anything.

“I know you might be worried that it would be awkward because of Yanjun but really, I assure you that it’s in the past, I am completely over it. And I guess it’s safe to say that he is as well, considering that he is willing to move here for you,” Zhangjing went on rambling again. It seemed like once he started to talk he couldn’t stop himself.

“And what happened with Linong?” Zhengting couldn’t stop himself from asking, his curiosity taking over.

“Linong?” Zhangjing’s jaw dropped in surprise. “He told you about him?”

“Yes, of course” Zhengting didn’t understand. They have already established that they had talked about what happened, why was asking this again?

Zhangjing was confused at first, but then he laughed out loud.

“Oh my god!” he exclaimed between giggles. “Of course, you hate me!”

Zhengting tried to smile along, but he didn’t understand the joke.

“Wha-at?” he asked.

“You must think that I am a cradle robber!” he said before he was consumed by another laughing fit. Zhengting just waited, a little annoyed with the situation.

“I’m sorry,” Zhangjing apologized as he calmed down slowly. “So Yanjun told you that I seduced Nongnong with my evil charms to abandon his studies and come to Beijing with me, right?”

“Well… yeah.” Zhengting admitted. He still felt a little suspicious over this reaction and felt slightly offended at Yanjun’s expense. “He seemed pretty sure about what he was saying.”

“Zhengting, if everything I have heard from Wenjun is true, you had been in a similar situation. What’s the name of your youngest roommate? Wenjun called him on some western name…”

“Justin? His actual name is Minghao, we just all call him that.”

“Yes!” Zhangjing nodded. “I just knew that he would have a better chance at achieving what he wanted if he came to Beijing, and offered him the opportunity to come along with me. He accepted.”

“But…” Zhengting said confused. “What about the story with Linong’s mom and how he didn’t want to leave Taiwan with her? Why did he leave with you?”

“Nongnong’s mom moved away to a backwater village in Northern China to work for a rural development non-profit, of course Nongnong didn’t move away with her! He wants to become a paediatrician he needs proper education.”

Zhengting hummed. That seemed like a sensible explanation. And if Zhangjing had a Justin of his own, he could really not hate him anymore, that was just not possible.

But one thing was still unclear.

“But then why would Yanjun think such a thing about you and him?”

“Because he was mad at me, we haven’t talked for weeks before I moved and I didn’t own any explanation to him, it wasn’t his business. And I guess, he didn’t believe Nongnong when he told him the truth because he just wanted a valid reason to hate me, other than the fact that I wanted to move away.” He had a bittersweet smile of his face, as he must have been remembering something. “You must mean a lot to him, you know, if he’s willing to leave his precious home behind for you. The Yanjun I knew would not have moved from Taipei for anything.”

Zhengting’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Really?”

“Really,” Zhangjing nodded, smiling. “I guess we all change.”

“Huh…” Zhengting couldn’t really hide his surprise.

“What?” Zhangjing smiled.

“Nothing, just… Then I really should give him a chance, I guess.” To be honest, Zhengting still haven’t been completely convinced by the other CEO’s intentions. Because yes, Zhengting himself didn’t spare many thoughts for Yanjun in his absence, but it wasn’t like that he was breaking his neck while trying to contact him either: he didn’t receive a single phone call or message for the past two weeks. The only correspondence that happened between them, was a friendly work email from the older to inform him that he just went through the newest sales reports and Zhengting will be happy and an obnoxious and a little scandalous ppt Christmas card that played cheesy music when opened as the mail’s attachment. In response, Zhengting had crafted out a fake portfolio of ugly Christmas sweaters, joking that this was the new clothing line they are releasing and Yanjun can choose one for himself exclusively. But that was almost a week ago, Christmas came and went Zhengting had forgotten about the man almost entirely.

This wasn’t how love supposed to work, right? But then again, all of Yanjun’s friends seemed to think that the man was head over heels in love with Zhengting, so at some point, Zhengting ought to start to believe it was the truth.

“Oh,” Zhangjing said. “I thought you two were already dating.”

“Oh no, it wasn’t really like that!” Zhengting shook his head. “There wasn’t any romance between the two of us so far, but I guess he wants that.”

Zhangjing’s eyes narrowed in confusion.

“And do you want that?” he asked. “Are you in love with him?”

“No, I am not,” Zhengting answered honestly. “But I think I could fall in love with him. I think I should at least try, don’t you agree?”

Zhangjing’s answering smile seemed a little forced, but he quickly seemed to mask it. Zhengting guessed he didn’t want him to notice it.

“Yes, you should.” Zhangjing agreed and then changed the subject to ask about hotpot restaurants around town. Zhengting let him and they talked late into the night.

 

“Happy New Year, Zhengzheng!” his sister yelled so loud into her laptop’s microphone as if she wanted to be heard from all the way from Beijing. She looked great: her hair a little tousled, her skin practically radiating from happiness. Zhengting’s heart squeezed just looking at her: he missed his family so much.

“It’s not New Year yet, jiejie!” Zhengting shook his head, chuckling. “Hey, gege!” he greeted the other person on his screen. His brother-in-law smiled at him while greeting him just as loudly and enthusiastically as his wife did moments before him. Sometimes, Zhengting wondered how someone can look so much like their sibling and yet have a completely different personality. Where Wenjun was shy and introvert his brother was friendly and outgoing, always in the middle of every social circle. While Wenjun was a great observer and a quietly caring person, his brother often missed subtle social cues and though kind-hearted, he often found himself offending people. He and Zhengting’s sister was what Zhengting considered the very definition of soul-mates: similar enough to want the same things but yet different in ways that complimented each other perfectly.

He smiled along as the two of them talked excitedly about the finished nursery and how both of them are going to go on an extended holiday when their child was born (they still refused to tell the sex of the baby, saying “We know that you and Wenjun have a bet going on, you will have to wait and see”), how Zhengting’s father was doing (he was still weak, but the other day he remembered Zhengting and his mind was clear for long enough for quite some time for them to have a nice conversation) and seemingly everything that has happened with them since the last time they talked.

“And the doctor said it would be completely fine for me to travel for Lunar New Year since I’m healthy and the baby seems comfortable enough in there to not rush out too soon. So, we’re coming over for sure to visit you. If Dad’s medication really is working this time, he might be able to come too, don’t you want that Zhengzheng?”

“It would be so great!” Zhengting whined. “I miss all of you so much!”

His sister pouted sadly. “I know, Zhengzheng. I wish we could see each other more often, but I understand that you cannot leave. I just wish you could feel safe enough to finally take a holiday!”

Zhengting didn’t say anything to that, just smiled back at her kindly. He knew they had a hard time understanding his decision about the company and how he basically sacrificed his own personal life to pursue it. But they tried to be supportive and only barely nagged him about the fact that Zhengting didn’t have a proper vacation time ever since he moved, only a single day or two here and there. Not enough to travel, even barely enough to rest properly. He dreaded even thinking about the fact that he could easily fall ill, making him the biggest health freak in the eyes of everyone around him, but it was just not possible for him to hand over everything about his company to anyone.

“It doesn’t matter,” Zhengting said. “When you are getting here for the holidays, I will definitely make some time and we will have fun. Wenjun will have to suck it up as well and just cancel his schedule for the time being.”

“Oh, by the way if we’re talking about Wenjun,” his sister said. “Have you talked to him today? We can’t reach him.”

“He’s flying back from Malaysia today, he was on a photoshoot there. His phone might be off, because of the plane.” Zhengting guessed. “Why? Did something serious happened? I am seeing him tonight at a party, I can tell him.”

“Nah, nothing like that” his brother-in-law dismissed Zhengting’s concern quickly. “It’s just that the apartment he went to see is back on sale again. Can you tell him that the realtor called me, and  if Wenjun is still interested the owner is open to hear his offer?”

Something really cold settled deep inside Zhengting’s chest, gripping at his heart with an iron grip.

“Wenjun wants to buy an apartment in Beijing?” he asked, barely managing to say the words out loud. No, that couldn’t be true. Wenjun cannot move. Maybe he was just getting an apartment as an investment or maybe he wanted to gift it to their new niece or nephew. That needed to be it.

The couple at the other end of the conversation had seemed to realize their mistake and looked at him with earnest concern. They shared a look, sighing simultaneously. That was all the answer Zhengting needed and without an explanation, he understood.

Wenjun wanted to move.

Wenjun wanted to leave him.

 

When Zhengting had announced to his group of friends two months ago that he didn’t plan to organize a New Year’s Eve party this year, a surprisingly violent and fierce competition had occurred for the post of the host of the annual event. In the end, Zhu Xingjie, Zhengting’s wisest friend and also his company’s CFO emerged victorious: he was a majority shareholder in an exclusive downtown night club which he planned to use as the venue of the party. It was a huge, luxurious, invitation-only event and of course, everyone was there. Almost as great as if it had been organized by Zhengting himself, as the host had pointed it out when he had arrived together with his kids.

“It looks awesome, Jie ge!” Justin exclaimed, patting him over his back.

“And the music will be also great, considering it’s your party,” Chengcheng nodded along, already pulling a hyped Zeren straight towards the dance floor.

“The boys are right, ge” Zhengting smiled. “It does look awesome.”

Xingjie had bought him a drink and he led him over to the other executives of his company so they could share a toast for the New Year together but Zhengting’s heart wasn’t really in it. He joked around with his employees, caught up with friends he hadn’t seen for a while, but he was looking for one person only amidst flock of people around him.

The conversation with his sister and her husband still very clear in his head from earlier that day, he headed back towards the bar, spotting Zhangjing. He wondered whether Wenjun had talked to him about moving to Beijing. Maybe he even asked for his opinion about the flat he chose. As much as he started to love the other man, jealousy flared in him again with full force, even though only for a short moment. The other designer had noticed him instantly and seemed very perceptive about his mood, reaching out to take his hand in his own as Zhengting approached, squeezing it gently.

“Are you okay?” he asked worriedly, Zhengting barely hearing him over the music from the dance floor.

Zhengting squeezed Zhangjing’s hand back reassuringly.

“Yeah, it’s nothing serious,” he said. “Can I ask you something? About Wenjun.”

“Sure, anything. Though, I am pretty sure you’re the better expert on the topic,” Zhangjing winked at him playfully.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too,” Zhengting laughed out darkly, but Zhangjing couldn’t hear him fortunately. “Did you know anything about how he was looking for apartments when he was in Beijing?”

“Yeah, he asked me to go with him once,” Zhangjing nodded. “Why? Did he changed his mind again and he’s moving in the end?”

This hit Zhengting harder than he thought it would: here they were, Zhangjing assuming that as Wenjun’s best friend he would know about the other man’s life plans. It wasn’t that big of an assumption to make, that Wenjun would share his thought about relocating and ask for advice from him when it comes to serious topics such as this. But Wenjun didn’t even mention Zhengting the possibility to move away from Shanghai before. And it hurt like a bitch.

“No, he didn’t,” Zhengting realized quickly that he still had to answer a concerned Zhangjing. Considering how close the two of them grew in the past few weeks, the older man would probably miss Wenjun as much as he would… No. No one could miss Bi Wenjun as much as Zhengting would. “Or at least, he didn’t mention it to me. Just my brother-in-law got a call today that the place he wanted is back on the market.”

“Oh, is it the penthouse with the huge open concept floor plan with the giant kitchen that has a six-burner stove and two ovens? It was awesome, he loved that place!”

“I don’t know,” Zhengting answered curtly. He was saved from further interrogation by Cheng Xiao, who had approached him with a weird look on her face.

“Hey, sorry Zhangjing, I have to discuss a little bit of business with my boss,” she told Zhangjing swiftly who had understood the unsubtle signal and shuffled further down the bar to talk to Ling Chi, the guy who owned a pet store near Zhengting’s apartment complex and a good-looking man Zhengting haven’t seen before but seemed be Ling Chi’s date.

“I don’t really want to discuss business on New Year’s Eve,” Zhengting told his HR director though grateful for the interruption.

“Nah, it’s not strictly business, but they are just very unsubtle about it and I have to ask what we are thinking of that.”

“Of what?” he asked, confused.

“You didn’t see?” Cheng Xiao screeched. She grabbed his head and turned it towards the dance floor, pointing out a couple that seemed to be very immersed in each other, almost pornographically. When he realized who they were, Zhengting’s jaw practically dropped to the floor.

“I guess, Xukun is over his crush on you, boss,” Cheng Xiao commented. And he apparently was, considering he was busy showing his tongue down in the mouth of none other than Wang Ziyi. “So, what am I supposed to do? Do I stop them or something? Because you’re sending me missed signals.”

“What on Earth are you talking about?” Zhengting looked at her confused. "Do you want to get into that? And Ziyi and Xukun? When in Hell this thing happened?"

“I don't want to, but if you want me to I will, that's the point!"

"Why would I want you to?" Zhengting furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "It's not like I can force him to like Zeren, don't I? He dates whoever he wants, as long as he doesn't hurt my friends."

The memory of that conversation in his office still stung, but - mostly because Zeren really wanted to forget about the whole thing - he decided to leave it behind as well.

"Because they both work for you? I can't really pick up on your thoughts about this. At first, you broke your thing off with Ziyi, because you are his boss, so I thought dating in the company is a taboo. But then you tried to hook up Zeren with Xukun so I don’t know what policy should I enforce about office romances. Because if I had known it was allowed, I would have asked out that cute manager over at Sales ages ago.”

“Hold up, for a second!” Zhengting raised a hand to gain her attention. “First of all, how did you know about Ziyi and me?”

Cheng Xiao gave him a pitying look.

“Honey, everyone knew about it, Ziyi wasn’t subtle at all, with the way he looked at you like you hung the moon or something. And I guess, he still is that obvious just he’s that way now with Xukun. You on the other hand are quite an enigma yourself, considering how no one really seems to get your thing with Wen...”

Zhengting didn't really hear what she was saying, but the part about Ziyi surprised him.

“Ziyi and I were never liket that! It was just… I mean, never mind. That’s not the important matter now. The important one is that how you guys figured that you can’t date in the company? Just because I stopped fucking Ziyi? That’s ridiculous!”

Cheng Xiao gave him a look that seemed to be meant to destroy him. She gave him a numbing hit on his upper arm and left behind with a shout “I hate you, you are an idiot!”

Zhengting chuckled after her, genuinely smiling. Even though, if this would turn into an actual thing between Ziyi and Xukun, potentially complicating many things for their workflow, he still felt relieved: he was afraid that someone would leave the fiasco with his mistaken matchmaking with damage. But fortunately, both Xukun and Zeren seemed to be fine and the rumours in the office had also lacked any malice towards the two of them. In fact, the company employees seemed to be more amused at their CEO’s expense and that was also a big relief for Zhengting.

But then he scanned the room and spotted Zeren, his good mood evaporating instantly. The younger seemed to be as pale as a drywall in a verge of a breakdown standing at the back corner of the club, looking around nervously, as if he was lost. Zhengting pushed himself away from the counter dashing right towards the photographer, encircling his arms around his neck worriedly.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked leaning in to talk right into the younger’s ear.

“He’s here, ge.”

“I know, I’m sorry I’ll tell them to stop. This is very cruel to you, even if you didn’t really had feelings for him in the end…”

“What are you talking about?” Zeren looked at him confused.

“Xukun and Ziyi!”

“What? No! That’s not the problem!” Zeren protested. “He is here! With a fucking date! I can’t believe he literally looked at me and started making out with him! Or am I just paranoid? It hurts like fucking hell!”

“Who…”

“Zhengting!”

Zhengting let out a sigh. Sometimes, You Zhangjing had the worst timing.

“Zhengting, you disappeared so quickly, we haven’t finished talking. And Zeren, oh my god! I haven’t seen you since the house-warming party! Ling Chi here was telling me that you guys live near his store? My flat is in that area too! And this is Ling Chi’s friend. I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name…” Zhangjing turned towards the fifth person in their group, who – as Zhengting finally looked at him – seemed to be shifting uncomfortably, staring at Zeren, barely realizing that Zhangjing was talking to him.

“Yanchen,” he said in the end.

Oh, what the… Zhengting could barely stop himself from reacting badly, the only thing anchoring his anger was Zeren’s slight tremble under his arms: the younger wouldn’t want him to make a scene.

“Yanchen,” Zhengting said, putting on his best smile, extending a hand towards him, trying to be very obvious with his fake kindness. Yanchen still seemed to be in a little bit of a daze, because he just took Zhengting’s hand without a word. “My name is Zhu Zhengting.” After hearing his name, Yanchen tried to pull his hand back a little, his eyes widening slightly. Yanchen had obviously heard about him and seemed to be scared.

Good.

“And this is Zeren, he lives with Zhengting, my best customer,” Ling Chi told Yanchen, smiling at his date cutely. Zhengting would have been happy for them in other circumstances.

“We have met,” Yanchen nodded curtly.

“Really?” Zhangjing looked at them surprised. “What a small world!”

“Yeah, astounding, isn’t it?” Zhengting mentioned sarcastically.

“Zhu Zhengting, take your hands off my lovely dance partner!” The voice Zhengting so wanted to hear the whole night suddenly rang from behind the fresh couple. He passed right through between them, giving Zhengting and Zeren a subtle wink, grabbing Zhengting’s hand and dropping it off of Zeren’s shoulder only to be replaced by his own. Wenjun seemed to have a few drinks in him already, Zhengting could tell from his mannerism and the lack of shyness.  “I’m sorry but I’m snatching my boyfriend away. It’s almost midnight you know, and he haven’t even danced with me!”

And then he proceeded to lead Zeren away from their company. He leaned in to Zeren very close, whispering something in his ear that made Zeren smile at him beautifully, wrapping his hands around his neck. The two of them started dancing, when once they leaned closer, sharing a short kiss: shocking Zhengting very effectively for a moment. He must have heard the name and realized the situation and reacted quickly, the way he always does. Or who knows, maybe Zeren was his boyfriend after all and just forgot to tell it to Zhengting just as he forgot to tell him that he wants to move to Beijing.

“Huh,” Zhangjing looked after them, surprised. “That wasn’t something I expected. I am a little bit behind with what was happening with you guys, I see.”

“Yeah, it’s a pretty recent development,” Zhengting went along with the lie, even though the pain in his chest multiplied as he looked at the “couple” over the dance floor. “Sorry, I have to go to the toilet,” he excused himself.

“OK, but hurry back! It’s almost midnight after all, you shouldn’t miss it,” Zhangjing told him.

Zhengting nodded but he didn’t plan to come back too soon.

He was standing in the toilet in front of the sinks for long minutes, staring at his own tired reflection, not even understanding why he was so upset.

“Ge,” Justin’s voice rang from behind him. Zhengting looked sideways in the mirror, his eyes meeting with his little brother’s deep brown orbs, in an understanding that was deeper than Zhengting could explain. “Ge, come and celebrate midnight with me, Chengcheng and Quanzhe, all right? We would miss you, if you wouldn't be there.”

Sometimes, Justin knew what was wrong with him more than he himself did. The younger took his hand and led him out of the toilet, straight into the arms of a loudly singing Chengcheng, soon joined by Quanzhe and Justin, turning the embrace into a fierce group hug that was practically bombarded right after midnight with an incoming Xinchun and apparently, Zeren and Wenjun had also decided to give up the pretence for the sake of their closest friends.

As the hug disentangled, everybody wishing happy new year to everyone else, the last one still clinging to Zhengting’s body from the back was – unsurprisingly – Wenjun. The tall model had squeezed Zhengting’s shoulders with his skinny arms and buried his face in his hair inhaling slowly. Zhengting melted into his arms, his back pressing into Wenjun’s front comfortably.

“Happy New Year, Zhengzheng,” Wenjun murmured, giving the crown of Zhengting’s head a small peck.

“Happy New Year, Wenjun,” Zhengting said, trying very hard not to cry.

When he finally found themselves at home, Zhengting safely enveloped by his blankets and letting his dogs up on his bed like it was a special occasion, he decided to gather his courage and text Wenjun.

_Why would you need a six-burner stove and two ovens in your new Beijing apartment? You don’t even cook._

And the later sent a second one when he realized that this was more bitter than informative.

_Talk to your brother tomorrow, your realtor was looking for you._

 

He knew Wenjun was avoiding him. It has been a week since New Year’s Eve and the younger haven’t sent a single acknowledgement to his text, let alone speak to Zhengting. His sister called him worriedly the next day, asking how he was.

“We talked just yesterday, jie,” Zhengting pointed out. “What could have possibly changed in a single day?”

“I just thought you and Wenjun...”

“We are fine.”

“So... Wenjun told you everything?”

No. No, he didn’t say anything. He just didn’t want to spend time with him anymore.

“Jie, I have to hang up,” he lied. “I just remembered that I have to check in the office.”

“But it’s Sunday!”

“Well, fashion never stops. I’m sorry, I’ll call you back later, OK?”

Zhengting didn’t call her back ever since then. He conducted his days on autopilot, trying to understand why this affects him so much.

“Zheng ge, Can I have a minute with you?” Zeren asked one day as he came to his office late in the afternoon.

“Sure, what’s up?” Zhengting asked. Zeren closed the door behind himself and extended his phone for Zhengting with an email open on it.

“I just got this a few hours ago,” he explained. “I am not sure what to do.”

Zhengting had felt his heart sank even further as he read through the email.

“What are you not sure about?” he asked, smiling as widely as he could. “This is amazing! An entire exhibit with your pictures... This is your dream!”

“But it’s in Beijing. I would have to leave you.”

Zhengting sighed. Of course, he knew that. He feared that. But this was a no-brainer, Zeren just had to grab this opportunity, he would forever regret if he didn’t.

“I know, it can be scary, baby,” he said walking over to Zeren, raising his hand to smooth his hair down with his fingers. “But you have to take risks to achieve your dreams, sometimes. Besides, this is only for a few weeks isn’t it?”

“Well, there is a chance they would sponsor me. Then it can be longer.”

“You can still decide to come back then,” Zhengting reassured him. It seemed to work, judging by the smile spreading over the younger’s face. “Besides, you won’t be alone, since Wenjun is moving there too. And that’s what video calls are for.”

“But my job…”

“Oh yes, your job. Well, you must not go, I heard your boss is a nightmare, he would never have you back, if you quit now.”

Zeren let out a weak chuckle, but he still seemed troubled.

“So, I should go, right?” Zeren asked. “You and Wenjun ge said the same thing. But it would be so weird, you not being there. I mean, sure, even if we don’t meet up here every day, I could still go home and vent to you. I knew you would be there.”

“And I’ll still be there for you to vent,” Zhengting smiled reassuringly. “You will just have to call me then.”

 

Zhengting’s assuring words seemed to work on Zeren, because by the time the CEO arrived home after work, his roommates were all sitting around his living room, excitedly joking about the photographer’s trip. There seemed to be some consensus among his babies that now that there are multiple empty rooms in the house, maybe they should turn one into a gym, because the communal one downstairs is “too lame”.

“Not mine!” Zeren protested. “I am not leaving forever, I will still need my room back, thank you very much!”

“And do you think you can’t sleep on a treadmill?” Justin asked, smirking evilly. “You’re tiny enough for it.”

Clearly, Huang Minghao had a death wish, because to no one’s surprise, he was chased around the room by an annoyed Zeren. Zhengting tried to join in the fun, but somehow his heart was still heavy. Eventually, he excused himself and headed downstairs to the actual gym of the apartment complex. There was an empty room there with mirrors that were usually used for aerobic classes, but Zhengting knew that it would be empty at this hour and he was grateful for it, because he really wanted to dance now.

This was something he rarely did nowadays, but it still worked like a miracle as it helped to clear his mind. And that was something he desperately needed now, his thought a jumbled mess.

Why was it that when he learned that Zeren would move, he could be genuinely happy for him, meanwhile he almost lost it when he learned about Wenjun doing the same thing? Why did it feel like that Wenjun was abandoning him?

Apparently, Wenjun had been in their offices today and he didn’t even bother to come and say hi to Zhengting. A new surge of anger rose inside Zhengting as he danced, because that was right: Wenjun didn’t even bother to give him an explanation to his moving. He hadn’t spoken a single word to Zhengting since the New Year's Party. That’s the difference between Zeren and Wenjun: while the younger had sought him out at the first opportunity he could get, Zhengting had to learn Wenjun’s plans through their family because he couldn’t even face him to tell the truth himself.

“Wow.”

Zhengting haven’t noticed the other entering the room before until he spoke, but he couldn’t have been happier to see him there as he turned around to face him.

“I know you said you danced pretty well, but I haven’t expected it to be that good,” Lin Yanjun said in awe. He looked amazing, as always, though dressed casually this time around.

Zhengting had turned the music down and practically attacked him with a fierce hug. He buried his head into his neck, as the other man’s arms had enveloped him in a warm tightness.

“When did you get back?” Zhengting murmured against soft skin, still a little out of breath from dancing.

“Just a few hours ago. I dropped my things and I thought I would come see you. Your babies told me that you would be here,” Yanjun hummed. He pulled back a little and lifted Zhengting’s head gently as well to look at the younger properly. It was hard to tell what he had seen there as a frown appeared on his face. “Is everything all right?”

Zhengting considered lying but he just couldn’t.

“No, it’s not,” he admitted, his voice quivering from all the supressed emotions.

It was hard to stop once he had started. He told everything to Yanjun: about Zeren and Yanchen, about his screwup with Xukun, Wenjun’s new house and the events of New Year’s Eve had come out of him at once with all his insecurities and sense of abandonment. Yanjun just sat beside him on the floor, their backs against the gym’s mirror, their legs intertwined, with him listening ardently as he carded a hand through Zhengting’s messy hair, letting him vent out his frustrations.

“I mean, yes I ruined everything, I know. But was it really that awful that he couldn’t even face me anymore? Zeren’s has forgiven me ages ago, why is he still angry at me? And I can’t really think of any other explanation than that he hates me so much, he can’t even look at me anymore and that’s why he keeps me out of the loop! There’s just no more rational explanation for that!”

“Zhengzheng,” Yanjun slowly started. “You need to tell Wenjun everything you just told me.”

“And how exactly? He keeps avoiding me! And it’s not like he is overly busy because he has time to meet up with Zeren and apparently, You Zhangjing, who helped him chose his fucking house!”

“Hmm,” Yanjun hummed. “And since when trivial things like that issue stop THE Zhu Zhengting from doing something? Did you build your successful business with this attitude? If a supplier didn’t want to meet with you, you just covered and said okay, I won’t bother you then?”

“Of course not!” Zhengting protested. “But there’s a difference between business partners and the guy who is supposed to be my best friend but would rather spend time with anyone else than me!”

Yanjun looked at Zhengting’s eyes deeply. “You’re scared,” he stated.

“Of course, I am scared! I don’t want to be lonely and if Wenjun leaves me… I’m not sure what I would do.”

Yanjun enclosed the younger man in another hug, trying to comfort him. Zhengting realized something: even though he felt better a little bit, Yanjun’s embrace wasn’t going to solve his problems. This was not what he wanted. He looked up, patting the other’s face gently.

“You know…” he started hesitantly. “I think you and I need to have a serious chat sooner or later.”

“Yes,” Yanjun agreed. “But not when you are this upset.”

“How have you been?” Zhengting asked, steering the conversation away.

“Good. Fantastic even,” Yanjun admitted. “I resigned.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “It will be official next week.”

“And have you decided about the moving thing?”

“That is still up in the air,” Yanjun admitted. “I have been thinking a lot, whether I should really go along with this and I am still not sure about what’s the final verdict. I still have some issues I have to work through.”

Something suddenly occurred to Zhengting.

“Speaking of issues that you should probably be working yourself through…” he started but was interrupted.

“I thought we are not going to talk about these things!” Yanjun protested.

“You brought it up! And I think that I should really say this!” Zhengting argued. “The worst part about the Wenjun thing was that I couldn’t even blame You Zhangjing properly for stealing my Wenjun from me, because he is a really wonderful person! And I really think that you two should talk. Because I opt to believe Zhangjing’s version of the Linong story and you might as well try and fix the situation.”

“That is absolutely impossible,” Yanjun declared. “The very reason I am hesitating about moving here is because I don’t know how I can avoid meeting that snake here face to face with our friends in common.”

“That’s is yet another reason why you should have a talk with him.”

“And what other reasons are there?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Zhengting looked at him. “Because you clearly miss this Linong guy more than you actually admit it. And it still upsets you even though it has been years! And you should really hear them out, maybe you could look at the situation more rationally than you did a few years ago.”

Yanjun looked at Zhengting again, contemplating. “You might be right there.”

“Of course, I am!” Zhengting claimed. “Why else would you ask me to go to the Gucci show with you, even though you flinch even just thinking about meeting Zhangjing?”

“Do you think he would be there?” Yanjun asked.

"Well, he is head of Design, duh!"

"Not Zhangjing. Linong."

“Oh. Probably. They sounded pretty close, the way Zhangjing told me about him. And this is a huge thing for him, I think his closest friend would fly out to support him.”

“All right,” Yanjun said after a long silence. “We will see.”

The two of them chatted some more and then they departed. Zhengting considered inviting him upstairs but it just didn’t feel right. As he arrived back to his apartment, the first thing he noticed was the snack food on his kitchen counter.

“Oi, you boys went out to buy stuff and you didn’t even tell me about it?” Zhengting hollered at his roommates annoyed. “But at least you brought my favourites, you know what’s best for you!”

“What? Those?” Quanzhe peered into the kitchen questioningly. “No, Wenjun ge brought them over, didn’t he tell you?”

“Wenjun? Is he here?” Zhengting asked, hating the fact that he sounded hopeful.

“No?” Zeren entered as well, with Justin and Chengcheng in tow. He looked confused. “He said he would go down to talk to you.”

“He did?” Zhengting asked. “But he didn’t.”

“Meh,” Chengcheng shrugged. “It must not have been that important.”

“Yeah, it must have been nothing,” Zhengting agreed, trying to not sound disappointed.

Justin looked at him concerned, but the others didn’t seem to notice his mood, chattering away about Yanjun excitedly. At least, only one of them would ask uncomfortable questions Zhengting himself didn’t know the answer to.

 

The Gucci annual fashion show for their spring collection was a very splendid event, where the famous company liked to go overboard and it wasn’t different this year either, as Zhengting noted when he entered the spacious exhibition room with Yanjun. Everything screamed luxury and elegance and the collection wasn’t even showed yet.

Zhengting loved every bit of it. There is no wonder why he wanted to work for this company. He knew the fashion brand would go out all the way for this collection to be a knock-out success, so to be honest Zhengting didn’t even try to compete with it. They released their spring line-up in December, without much fanfare on a small intimate event: Zhengting and his directors thought they would focus for the summer and bring out a strong line there.

“Fancy…” Yanjun murmured in his ear bitterly. Zhengting chuckled along. Yanjun might not appreciate it, but he thought this was exactly what he needed. It had been a week since they had packed Zeren's stuff up neatly and sent him off to the airport and the other rarely had time to talk to them, considering the hectic schedule with his upcoming exhibit.

To be honest, he didn’t consider one thing about this event: the fact that he and Yanjun are supposed to be big names in this industry and them showing up such a prestigious event together might generate some public interest.

If Zhengting would think about it a little more, he had to admit that so far, his semi-relationship with Yanjun had been kept secret from the public, considering the two of them only went out on private parties and not very well-known restaurants together before. They weren’t famous enough to be followed around in their private life, but they are noticeable well enough for an industry event: Zhengting was sure there would be gossip about them, come tomorrow. It didn’t really bother him too much, there had been much worse rumours about him before and Yanjun also seemed unfazed by it. In fact, the former CEO was very affectionate for the evening, constantly touching Zhengting, on the small of his back, his face, one of his hands almost always intertwined with the younger’s. A part of Zhengting was happy with the comforting touches, but another part found the public displays of affection weird from the older.

The show itself was spectacular. The pieces for women were breathtakingly beautiful, the male collection unique and elegant as well. Zhengting was happy to note that Zhangjing did listened to his advice and even built on his suggestions for the end result to be something very Gucci, but very You Zhangjing as well. The designer’s breath stopped for a moment when Wenjun walked out to the runaway, probably wearing one of the strongest pieces of the collection for men, looking absolutely perfect. Zhengting wasn’t the only one to notice this, considering the hushed tones of the crowd around him. He also suspected there was a few of Wenjun’s most devoted fans among the audience. They barely bothered the model when going out in public, but they always showed up for every runway event or public area photoshoot he would have. Fans just knew these things.

Yanjun’s mood seemed to plummet, especially after Wenjun’s turn, when he downed the champagne tube he had been nursing in his hands since the beginning of the show at one big gulp. Zhengting noticed his mood change but didn’t comment on it, he merely grabbed on the other man’s hand more tightly, trying to comfort him. Yanjun sent him a grateful look but didn’t seem to cheer up too much. Zhengting couldn’t tell why exactly, but he swore he would try to find out.

The show ended on a cheerful note, everyone clapped as all the models and Zhangjing had come out from backstage to hear the designer give a speech. He actually mentioned Zhengting by name, thanking him for his support and help. Zhengting blushed and smiled back at the other designer, not expecting to be credited for his work on this collection. His gaze met with Wenjun’s who tried to smile at him proudly but there seemed to be an odd sadness in his eyes.

 

The after party seemed to be as much of a grandiose event as the show itself. Zhengting was a pro at events like this, smiling a little at a business partner here, giving a compliment to a grumpy fashion critique there, dancing with a rivalling designer the next moment. Yanjun was game for the networking parts, his smooth manners charming everyone. He patiently explained that yes, he resigned as CEO and he won’t be actively taking part on day to day decisions regarding his company. Zhengting didn’t know how he had so much patience for this, it was very impressive.

“Yanjun ge!” A cheerful voice interrupted the stuffy looking Shanghai representative of Louis Vuitton, who can’t seem to stop talking about some nonsense for the two of them. Zhengting turned just to be face to face with the most radiant smile he had ever seen in his life and he had been meeting up with Lu Dinghao on a weekly basis. The representative finally excused himself and walked away when Yanjun also smiled at the newcomer.

“Nongnong, oh my god!” He exclaimed, hugging the cute boy tightly. “I barely recognized you, are you not planning to stop growing?”

Linong laughed at his gege, squeezing his hand as they separated from their hug.

“I missed you so much, ge!” he said, then turning his attention towards Zhengting. “And you must be Zhu Zhengting! Jing ge couldn’t stop talking about you, I couldn’t wait to meet you!”

“It’s really nice to meet you as well,” Zhengting smiled back, squeezing the hand extended towards him in greeting.

Linong turned back to Yanjun. “Oh ge, I am so happy you decided to come, I was afraid you won’t in the end, because of all the hassle between you and Jing ge, but I am so happy you moved on! Finally, everything can be like it was before with the three of us!”

Yanjun shifted on his legs, slightly uncomfortable.

“Zhengzheng, Nongnong!” Zhangjing called out to them as he skipped through the crowd of well-wishers, probably not spotting Yanjun until it was too late. “And… Yanjun. Huh. So, you’re here.”

“Well, yeah. Your office sent me an invite and I didn’t want Zhengzheng to come alone.”

Zhengting didn’t want to interrupt but that wasn’t exactly true. Though yes, normally his partner for events like this had been Zeren, he still wouldn’t have come alone even if Yanjun didn’t wanted to be here: Ziyi, Xukun and his ever-dutiful partnership manager Han Mubo was here as well along with his boyfriend Qin Fen. But he decided to stay silent, as the atmosphere of the room seemed to freeze between the two older men.

“Oh, that’s great. Then I’m happy Zhengzheng didn’t have to be alone,” Zhangjing said. Zhengting tried not to take offense to the other designer’s tone of voice as he said his nickname. “You seem to be very willing to keep him company.”

“Yes, I am sorry you didn't manage take him away from me as well," Yanjun spat back maliciously.

All right, so they were planning to talk about their issues right here and right now. Maybe they both consumed too much alcohol already, who knows? Zhengting himself felt a little light-headed and he knew for fact that Yanjun had drank much more than he did. Linong seemed to realize this too, slightly stepping between two of them.

“Jing ge, Jun ge, let’s try and talk about this properly, all right? Maybe tomorrow, when we are alone?”

“Oh, no, that would have been what adults do, and Lin Yanjun is still not capable of holding mature conversations. Instead, he plays stupid games, making everyone uncomfortable.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, let’s not pretend we don’t know why you are really here!” Zhangjing snapped, making a few heads turning towards them. “The only thing I don’t understand why you had to drag poor Zhengting into your petty revenge.”

“Of course, because the only reason I could possibly enjoy a gorgeous man’s company is because I want to annoy you!”

_Oh,_ Zhengting just realized. _I am a complete idiot._

Because it suddenly started to make sense. The unsaid references, the upset looks, the unusual bouts of sadness from both of them when the other was mentioned.

The fucking band! They both talked about it.

“All right,” he said firmly. “You two, get out of here! They said the terrace is lovely.”

“What?”

“Go. Now. And talk,” He ordered in a tone that meant that they shouldn’t mess with him. “No one needs to hear your lover’s quarrel, especially not on an event when you are the host, Zhangjing ge.”

“Zhengting…” they both looked at him apologetic.

“Just go away,” he said. “Both of you.”

He sighed and turned away from the conversation without any further word. He thanked every deity above for the open bar: he needed a drink very badly. While he was waiting to be served, he met with a jovial Qin Fen, and the topic of Dong Yanlei was a welcomed distraction for once.

“He seemed to me like a man who has too big dreams and not enough experience to pull something like that off, to be quite honest with you,” Qin Fen told him.

“He’s really passionate about the restaurant though, he really wanted to do it, for a very long time.” Zhengting downed his gin and tonic, signalling the bartender to give him another. "I think he will be really good at it."

“Yeah, it’s not the restaurant part I’m worried about,” Qin Fen said. “It’s that huge ass building! I know he has plans for the upper levels and everything, but I don’t know, it seemed like a wallet drain for me. And I’m not sure he thought this through properly.”

Zhengting snorted. “Yeah, that’s not Yanlei’s strong suite.”

Qin Fen looked at him confused.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well, his previous ideas haven’t been the greatest successes, to tell the truth.”

“But he somehow ended up with a lot of money. TGM money! That was a smart investment!”

“Pure luck,” Zhengting shook his head. “He actually thought he is buying shares in that American gossip magazine. He almost sold them immediately when I told him, that’s TMZ!” Zhengting laughed out loud, not exactly noticing that Qin Fen wasn’t laughing with him. Probably because of the numerous drinks that had already been in him, he didn’t stop talking him immediately. “The only reason he still had them, because he couldn’t exactly figure out how to sell them.”

Zhengting stopped laughing when he realized the expression Qin Fen’s face.

“Zhengting, if you think this dude is an absolute train wreck why did you want to me investing in him?”

Shit. Shit. Shit. Zhengting paled, his eyes going wide as saucers.

“That’s not what I meant!” he tried to save at least some face, but his brain was way too jumbled to come up with an acceptable excuse. He couldn’t.

“Oh, I understand you well enough, Zhengzheng,” Qin Fen reassured him, while looking at him in utter disappointment, and walked away from him.

The night seemed to be turning into a complete disaster for Zhengting, so he thought it was time to end it while he still can.

It can’t possibly be any worse, right? Right?

Of course not.

“Zhengting,” Ziyi suddenly grabbed onto his arm. Yeah, Zhengting almost forgot that he and Xukun were here as well. “Something is wrong with Wenjun.”

“What?” he asked, suddenly worried.

“I’m not sure. I think he drank too much, but also seemed a little sick. Maybe it’s the combination of those two things?”

“Ah, stupid thing!” Zhengting sighed out. “Why didn’t you send him home?”

“We tried,” Xukun said. “But he said he’s fine and he went on a weird rant about talking to you and a house? But anyway, we thought maybe he would listen to you and go home.”

“Where is he?”

“He went to the terrace, to get some fresh air.”

“Let me guess, he didn’t bring any coat with him,” Ziyi shrugged, Zhengting rolled his eyes. “I’m going to collect him before he makes himself even sicker. It’s freezing out there, seriously!”

He rushed out of the reception hall towards where he knew the corridor led to the terrace. Wenjun apparently didn’t get too far since he had talked to his employees, because he was just about to open the glass door to the outside at the end of the corridor. He didn’t hear Zhengting calling out his name and stepped out to the open air, only to visibly freeze just as he was out, his gaze fixed on something out of Zhengting’s line of sight. Zhengting let out an annoyed noise, rushing to him, but as he got closer, he finally saw what Wenjun was looking at.

Well, to be honest, he expected this to happen. After all, he was the one sending them out here, so they wouldn’t cause a scene.

Away from the peering eyes, there was Lin Yanjun holding onto You Zhangjing’s shoulders, saying something to the designer rather passionately, while Zhangjing seemed to be on the verge of crying. It was hard to tell what was happening without actually hearing them, but the next moment, Zhangjing grabbed onto Yanjun’s face and pressing his mouth to the taller man’s. Yanjun seemed to reciprocate the kiss almost immediately, the tense lines of his shoulders melting away as he wrapped his arms around Zhangjing’s torso, the designer’s arms circling the former CEO’s neck as well. The two of them separated for air a little bit, pressing their foreheads together to stay close to each other. Zhengting saw Yanjun’s mouth moving, whispering something to the other and leaning back in to press a chaste kiss to Zhangjing’s lips softly. Zhengting’s heart melted a little at the sight: nothing was more beautiful than long lost lovers reuniting after a long time.

Well, nothing could have been more romantic, if it would not have been for an enraged Bi Wenjun approaching them. The couple separated as they noticed him charging at them, but they didn’t have time to react before Wenjun had punched Yanjun square on the jaw.

Bi Wenjun was barely 65 kgs when soaking wet with noodle arms and no body mass whatsoever, so the punch probably didn’t hurt that much, but he was going for a second one, so Zhengting thought it might be wiser if he went out and stop his rightfully enraged friend. The terrace might have a view to the street: the after party is an invite-only event but sometimes fans and paparazzi camped outside with cameras to wait for their favourite models or other celebrities in attendance. If this would get photographed, that would be a disaster. He didn’t really understand what was going on between Wenjun and You Zhangjing, but it was definitely something unresolved.

_Well, it’s not like you don’t have some unresolved business with the other half of this couple_ , the thought occurred to himself, but he quickly shooed that away as he rushed out into the cold and practically throw himself on Wenjun to stop him from hitting Yanjun again. Wenjun lost his balance and crashed his whole weight onto Zhengting, almost making the older fall down, but he held on as Wenjun still tried to reach for Yanjun.

“How could you do this, you fucking jerk!” he yelled at the former CEO, trying to push Zhengting away. “Let me go, he deserves it… Zhengting?” So, Wenjun just realized who was restraining him, Zhengting guessed. He looked at the older, concern and desperation mixing on his face. “Zhengting have you seen what just happened?!”

“Yes, I did. And it will be all right,” Zhengting nodded calmly. He put his palm against Wenjun’s forehead, to feel it burning up. “It will be all right,” he repeated as he risked a glance towards the couple behind him. Yanjun was cradling his jaw as they both looked at Zhengting with a guilty expression. “Let’s get you home, you have a fever, Xiao Jun.”

Wenjun seemed to agree as he gave in, grabbing onto the hand Zhengting extended towards him, letting himself to be led back. Zhengting waved to a concerned looking Ziyi and Xukun who rushed to his side, helping him get Wenjun’s stuff, dressing up the model head to toe so he wouldn’t be recognized in the state he was and together they flagged a taxi. Zhengting gave the driver his own address, waving a quick goodbye to the couple.

Zhengting decided to put Wenjun into Xinchun’s empty room, giving him one of his extra pyjamas to change into.

“How could he do this to me?” Wenjun finally blurted out, as he was pulling on the cotton tee. “How could he do this to you?! Fucking Lin Yanjun…”

“It’s all right, Wenjun,” he told him, helping him pull down the shirt. “I know you’re upset about Zhangjing, but you don’t need to be upset about me.”

“Why would I not?” Wenjun asked. “He played with you and then threw you away, like you are a toy! And I trusted him! He broke my heart!”

“Xiao Jun, you are not making any sense!” Zhengting told him firmly, resting his hands on his hips. “Take the aspirin, drink all the water before you fall asleep!”

Surprisingly, Wenjun obeyed quickly. Zhengting went out to fetch a few extra blankets and by the time he came back, Wenjun was under the covers already. Zhengting had draped the blankets over him, so the other would sweat out the fever while he was sleeping. Wenjun suddenly grabbed onto his wrist and sat up to pull Zhengting down beside him to the bed, their faces only inches away from each other.

“How could he do this to you?” Wenjun asked again, giving out a sad sob. He lifted a shaking hand to carefully caress Zhengting’s face as if it was some fragile work of art. His face was so close to Zhengting’s that he could feel the burning heat radiating from it. For a minute, Zhengting thought that Wenjun is going to kiss him.

_But wait. That doesn't make any sense. Why whould Wenjun want to kiss me?_

_And more importantly, why am I okay with that?_

“How could anyone do this to you?” Wenjun whispered in the end, collapsing his head against Zhengting’s shoulder, who felt disappointed. Then he started to shake as he realized _why_ felt so disappointed. He took the hand against his face and put it back into Wenjun’s lap gently, righting his head back into an upright position.

_Yanjun is not the one who is hurting me right now._

“Go to sleep, Wenjun. We’ll talk in the morning, all right?” he said gently, withholding his tears. He pushed Wenjun to lie back on the pillows and it didn’t take long for the man to fall asleep. It was a good thing because as soon as Zhengting’s door was shut behind him, he started to weep.

Because he finally understood why Wenjun pushing him away was so painful. It was there in plain sight all along, but he was just too stupid to see it. Hell, people even pointed it out to him, and he ignored all of them! Why he hated calling Wenjun his best friend, because it seemed to trivial, but he couldn’t ever refer to him as his brother. Why he was a complete mess when the other was in Beijing for months. Why he couldn’t even look at the sight of him kissing Zeren on the New Year’s Eve party. Why he hated even the thought of Wenjun having feelings for Ling Chao.

Why he couldn’t stand to be in the presence of You Zhangjing, because he was the one Wenjun loved. Because if Wenjun is in love with anyone, he should be in love with him.

Since Zhengting loves his best friend more than anything in this world. Not just as his friend, not just as his brother-in-law. He was talking about love, the one that crumbles powerful people into a mess, overpowering everything: the burning, passionate type of love.

He sank down against his own door as the weight of the realization had hit him, burying his face into his arms.

Yanjun. How could he even think that what he feels for Lin Yanjun was love? What was that small flutter of his breath he felt when he saw him smiling at him, that little uneven beat to his heart when the two of them were joined together meant compared to this, when he could barely breathe for the mere thought of Wenjun never feeling the same way towards him like he feels for Wenjun?

He was a blind idiot and he couldn’t do anything about it anymore.

Because he might let himself believe for a slight moment that maybe now, that Wenjun’s heart was broken he would eventually let Zhengting mend it together but then he realized that the other was moving away for what it seems like the sole reason to be away from him, his heart crumbled again.

Wenjun will never want Zhengting back and that was something he could never fix.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, it's just everyone in this story is a drama queen!
> 
> Also I did an oopsie, it's only going to be six chapters, because I accidentally uploaded the first two in one (I'll fix that once the whole thing is up), so we are almost at the end, but first everybody needs to be a little bit overdramatic for a little bit more.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You need to find something else that you enjoy doing, otherwise you’re going to work yourself into an early grave. And I’m not sure I can replace you in your precious company if that happens... I have a granddaughter now, she will need me!” He shook his head, sighing. “My baby boy is just like you. He’s really brilliant but thinks that his work will make him happy and he lets other things go way too easily. I’m worried that he will be lonely. I’m trying to be there for him, you know. But what if he moves away? What will I do? I feel weak, so… weak. With each passing day it gets worse. I don’t want him to be lonely, Gege.”  
> Zhengting promised himself that he would not cry.  
> “Don’t worry,” he said as he stood to tuck his father back in. “I’m sure he will notice this before it’s too late.”
> 
> Due some unexpected circumstances, Zhengting finally goes home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the first part of a double update, since I'm planning on posting the last chapter today as well, or tomorrow, if I don't have enough time to proof-read it. Be sure you read this part first and then the final chapter.  
> Also, this has been sitting in drafts for almost a month. I am an awful person.

He couldn’t bring himself to get out of bed the next morning. He barely slept, his eyes were heavy with crying. He didn’t want to face the world.

But the world seemed to have other ideas.

“Zhengting ge!” Chengcheng had burst into his room, throwing himself on Zhengting’s bed, tugging himself against the other men, cuddling into him over the duvet separating them. “I saw it in the paper what happened yesterday! Zhangjing ge and Yanjun ge…” Chengcheng finally took his face in and quickly turned silent. “Zhengzheng, I am so sorry!” he whispered sadly, burying his face against Zhengting’s torso, trying to smother him with love. Quanzhe soon appeared, a gossip rag loosely held in his hand.

“Please tell me, it doesn’t mention me or Wenjun!” he said, looking at Quanzhe desperately. He expected the gossip even before it got really juicy and he just hoped for the best.

Quanzhe shook his head. “No. It’s just that Yanjun ge and Zhangjing ge was fighting, but in the end, they left the venue together. There are pictures. It’s rather… scandalous. It’s very obvious they’re together, I’m sorry, ge!” And in a moment, he was on the bed as well. Not much later, a hesitant Justin appeared in the doorway, looking very guilty for some reason.

Zhengting appreciated their concern and was ready to tell them it was unnecessary, but then a thought occurred to him.

“Is Wenjun still sleeping?”

“No, ge,” Justin told him. “He’d just left. He said he still has things to pack for his move on Monday.”

 

Apparently all his children knew about Wenjun's plans, they just haven't discussed it with him, since no one seemed to be surprised by Justin's revelation. But he didn't really have the energy to think about that right now.

Monday. Apparently, Wenjun was leaving on Monday.

Today was Saturday.

He was moving in two days and he hadn’t said a word about it to Zhengting.

Zhengting couldn’t help himself and started to cry scaring his boys very effectively. Justin immediately rushed to his side as well, manoeuvring himself inside the cuddle pile. Zhengting had a feeling that the youngest knew exactly what is truly wrong with him.

 

Even though he wanted nothing more than just stay in his bed for the whole weekend, he unfortunately had to face the consequences of his words.

“Hi Xikan!” he greeted the smiling man behind the counter when he entered Maverick’s. “Is Yanlei in today? He is not answering my calls and I thought I would try to check on him.”

Xikan’s smile fell.

“Ah, sorry he’s not!” the barista said, grimacing a little. “He had to leave the city, because his mom is sick.”

“But his mom lives here!”

“I know! Weird, huh?” Xikan exclaimed absentmindedly. “But I’ll tell him you were looking for him, okay?”

“All right, so be it,” Zhengting sighed disappointed.

He thought he would cut the way to his car through the back alley near the café and he felt even worse as he heard the voices arguing from the open window to the back room.

“Why did you make me lie to him?” he heard Xikan whine.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t even look at him right now,” he heard Yanlei’s unmistakeable voice saying.

Once his phone was hooked in his car’s Bluetooth system, he immediately called Qin Fen.

Finally, he answered.

“What do you want?” he asked rudely. “Are you planning to make me invest in another dead-end investment?”

“Fen ge, listen! It’s really not how it is! The other night I was upset and drunk. What I said was out of context and I couldn’t even explain myself properly.”

Qin Fen didn’t hang up but didn’t say anything to encourage Zhengting either.

“Please, can we at least meet up sometime soon? I want to explain the situation properly.”

“No, Zhengzheng,” Qin Fen sighed. “I’m not overly mad at you but you have to understand that I really don’t want to see you for some time.”

And with that, he hung up. Zhengting wanted to scream: how could he screw up so badly, again?

No wonder Wenjun was leaving him.

 

“Thanks for meeting up with me,” Yanjun stood as soon as Zhengting arrived at his table at the restaurant. “Do you want to order?”

“Let’s talk first, shall we?” Zhengting said cautiously sitting himself opposite to him. “So I could be able to storm out of here without paying the bill, if you say something I don’t like?”

“Don’t you think that if I offend you so much that you feel the need to storm out, the minimum I should do is to pay for your meal?” Yanjun asked, smiling bitterly.

“Fair enough.” They ordered food and waited in silence.

“Will you finally talk or what?” Zhengting asked. Even thought he wasn’t as hurt as people thought he was – the funniest thing was Xinchun and Dinghao who felt personally offended by Yanjun’s betrayal – he had a hard time feeling sympathy to the man sitting opposite to him.

“You’re like this with a good reason, I know. This wasn’t how it should have happened,” Yanjun finally blurted out.

“And how exactly it 'should have happened'?” he asked, making the air quotes with his hands. “What even happened in the first place? I don’t understand anything. Did you really just went out with me because you wanted… what did Zhangjing call it? Petty revenge?”

“No!” Yanjun exclaimed hurriedly. “That’s absolutely not it! Zhengting, before I went back to Taipei, I was genuinely considering pursuing you. You were… just a whole new level of amazing, that I thought I would never deserve. But then… I talked to Honglin.”

“The night of Dinghao’s party.”

“Yes.”

“I thought you were reconsidering stuff about me.”

“Yeah, that was part of it,” Yanjun nodded. “I mean you were pretty firm on the fact that you didn’t want anything from me, that is more than our friends with benefits arrangement and Honglin made me realize that that was not what I wanted. So, I thought I would distance myself and think things through when I am away from you. I thought if I could actually face Zhangjing without getting upset, I would be ready to date you properly. Your text before I went away gave me hope, I’m not gonna lie. That even if I end up being weak with Zhangjing. you would still stay my friend.” Yanjun chuckled drily, picking his food absentmindedly. “To be honest, at that point I thought you already found out the connection between Zhangjing and me. It was only now that I realized that you probably still don’t know anything.”

“You and Zhangjing had dated at university. The vocalist in your band. He was the one breaking your heart,” Zhenting stated what parts of the story he put guessed last night. Yanjun nodded.

“Yes, that was Zhangjing,” Yanjun sighed. “We dated throughout our university years and then he decided to move to Beijing for the job. I didn’t want to move, my company just started out, I was afraid of leaving Taipei for uncertainty. It went ugly, I was upset that he didn’t even ask me to go with him and he was upset I didn’t offer it.”

“Because if he would have asked…”

“I might have gone with him, yes,” Yanjun nodded. “And the funny thing that he told me that if I would have asked him, he wouldn’t have left.”

“And everything you told me about Linong…”

“Was me being bitter and ugly about my ex. Because he actually asked Linong and did not ask me. I wasn’t hearing any of their explanations.”

“I understand,” Zhengting hummed. He took a few bites of his food, chewing deeply in thoughts. “You know, I thought I could fell in love with you.”

“I know, Zhangjing told me yesterday that you said that to him. And I genuinely thought that we could have made each other happy. But it wouldn’t have been right.”

“So, what happened the other night?” Zhengting asked.

“Well, he and I fought, and we realized that none of us could move on from our feelings for each other. And then, well, you had seen what happened,” Yanjun looked into Zhengting’s eyes, guilt written all over his face. “I’m so sorry, I really wanted to talk to you about all this before I did everything, but it just happened.”

“But Zhangjing had hurt Wenjun very much,” Zhengting pointed out.

“Zhangjing said that there was even less happening between the two of them, than between the two of us,” Yanjun shook his head adamantly. “No, Wenjun was upset about something else and I am pretty sure that I know what it is.”

“And what would that be?”

“That’s something you really should talk out with Wenjun.”

“All right,” Zhengting poured himself a glass of water. “So, where do you want to buy your Shanghai home? I guess it will be close to Zhangjing’s apartment? We can even be neighbours; my apartment complex is pretty awesome.”

Yanjun looked at him a little dumbfounded. “That’s it?”

“What’s it?”

“Are you not mad at me?”

“Do you want me to be mad at you?”

“No,” Yanjun said. “But I expected a little bit more intense reaction from you.”

“Yanjun, this had been no surprise to me,” Zhengting sighed. “You and I, we haven’t been in love. I’ll tell you the truth I really planned on giving you a chance, but as you also said, it wouldn’t have been right. You were gone for weeks and I barely spared a thought about you. So, right now I’m just happy that two people I got to like very much in the past few months had found love with each other. So, let’s just talk about something more interesting for the rest of the lunch you are buying for me.”

“Oh, am I buying now?”

“Of course! You still made me look like an idiot and lied to me. Sort of.”

Yanjun chuckled.

“All right,” he said, raising his hands in surrender. “But just so you wouldn’t forget I’m jobless and homeless right now!”

 

After lunch Zhengting just sat in his car for long minutes. This day wasn’t like what he imagined: the only good thing was the reconciliation with Yanjun. He finally gathered all his strength to start his car, guided by a sudden surge of confidence, he was hoping would last long enough.

He went up with the familiar elevator and stopped in front of the familiar door. He raised his hand to press the doorbell but decided against it: Wenjun knew he was coming as he buzzed himself in downstairs. He might not open the door willingly.

He typed Wenjun’s passcode into his panel: the day of their siblings’ wedding. The day when the two of them met for the first time. As he opened the door, he found himself face to face with Bi Wenjun.

He looked better than he did last night, in a soft-looking hoodie and plaid sweatpants. His glasses were on with a thick beanie perched atop his messy hair, which made him look extra soft and cosy: Zhengting’s favourite look on him. He was clutching his phone in his right hand and he looked very surprised to see Zhengting standing in his apartment.

“Why are you moving away?” he asked bluntly, even surprising himself. Wenjun looked at him for a long moment.

“Zhengting, I just got off the phone from Gege,” he replied, stammering hesitantly. “Your sister went to premature labour. She’s on his way to the hospital right now.”

 

There was no questioning of what to do and in a few hours and a hefty sum of money, Zhengting had found himself on a plane to Beijing for the first time in years. Zhengting’s brother-in-law had been updating them via texts but they had to turn off their phones for the landing and Zhengting’s leg was nervously moving up and down on its own accord. The last text he had read was that his sister went in to surgery: the doctor warned her husband that it would take a long time.

“She will be fine,” Wenjun tried to calm him down, putting a hand on his knee. “Yes, it doesn’t look great, but Jiejie is a fighter. You just have to trust her, because she won’t give up.”

 “I hope Dad is all right,” Zhengting mumbled. “The nurse is with him, but I don’t know when her shift ends. Maybe I should go there instead of the hospital before he realizes something is wrong and gets an episode.”

“You would be way too worried to act as if nothing is wrong, just come to the hospital with me,” Wenjun told him. “At least let’s talk to Gege before you run off.”

Zhengting looked into Wenjun’s eyes gratefully, but the calming words didn’t have the effect Wenjun intended.  The younger man sighed knowing this fully well, so he just gave another squeeze to his knee and let go.

 

Wenjun’s brother approached them as soon as they arrived at the waiting room. He smiled at them widely and he crushed them in a relieved hug.

“Oh my God, it’s so good to see both of you!” he said. “They just wheeled her out of surgery. Everything went all right. The baby is fine. She’s little on the smaller side and they are going to keep her here for observation for a few nights, but everything should be all right.”

“And Jie?” Zhengting asked worriedly.

“She lost a lot of blood and she’s very weak, but the doctors expect a full recovery,” he explained, smiling at Zhengting fondly. It was the same smile Wenjun gave him at occasions. “She will have to stay here for about a week as well, but there’s nothing to worry about anymore. I’m sorry I dragged you here. I know you don’t have time to be here. And you Xiao Jun… sorry for ruining your original travel plans.”

Zhengting and Wenjun had dismissed him in sync.

“This was way more important,” Zhengting told him.

“I can sort it out easily, I wanted to be here,” Wenjun added. His brother smiled at him once again, patting his cheek fondly.

“I know this is an awful circumstance, but I’m glad we’re all here,” he said. “I barely see you two, I hope you can stay for long. At least a week, Zhengting?”

Zhengting’s mind briefly flashed through his mental agenda for the week, dreading what would happen if he’s not there for this long, but one look at his brother-in-law was enough to dismiss all other worries.

“At least a week. I’ll sort it out too.”

 

“So, I am a grandfather?” his father’s weak voice sounded from under the covers. Zhengting handed him a plastic cup with a few pills, he took it obediently, his hand shaking as he swallowed them in one go. Zhengting held a glass of water to his mouth, he sipped on it without any question.

“Yes,” he told his father, smiling fondly. “Your granddaughter is tiny and beautiful, I’m sure she will love you.”

“Ah, that’s good then,” his father nodded. He looked at him contemplating. “And how are you? Is the fashion world as crazy as ever?”

“Me? I’m fine,” Zhengting shrugged. His father’s brow raised in confusion.

“You don’t seem fine,” he said. “I’m always telling this to my girls, you work way too hard over there. You need to find something else that you enjoy doing, otherwise you’re going to work yourself into an early grave. And I’m not sure I can replace you in your precious company if that happens... I have a granddaughter now, she will need me!” He shook his head, sighing. Zhengting noticed that he said ‘my girls’. Of course, he wasn’t really here. Zhengting’s mother had been dead for almost five years now: they lost her in a car accident not much after his sister got married. That was also not much after the first symptoms started to show with his father. His father gave him another look and turned away, clearly not done with what he wanted to say. “My baby boy is just like you. He’s really brilliant but thinks that his work will make him happy and he lets other things go way too easily. I’m worried that he will be lonely. I’m trying to be there for him, you know. But what if he moves away? What will I do? I feel weak, so… weak. With each passing day it gets worse. I don’t want him to be lonely, Gege.”

Zhengting promised himself that he would not cry.

“Don’t worry,” he said as he stood to tuck his father back in. “I’m sure he will notice this before it’s too late.”

His father grabbed onto his hands, squeezing it with a surprising strength, making Zhengting sit back to the edge of the bed. “It’s never too late for that. Believe me, it’s never too late.”

Zhengting just smiled and squeezed back. He sat there, watching until his father drifted off to sleep.

Wenjun was sitting at the kitchen counter, holding a glass of red wine when he finally pulled the door to his father’s room close behind him, later that night. He held out a second glass for him to take.

“Congratulations,” he said. “We have a niece.”

“Oh right,” Zhengting said, taking the glass from Wenjun. “I won.”

 “Like you always do” Wenjun agreed, smiling slightly, but Zhengting noticed a bitter edge in his voice that he couldn’t understand. “I just drove Gege back from the hospital, they didn’t let him stay.”

“Oh… is he all right?”

“I ordered him to go to sleep, he was almost dead on his feet,” Wenjun smiled. “He protested at first, but he’s already asleep, I was just checking on him a few minutes ago.”

“All right, then,” Zhengting nodded, collapsing into the chair beside his best friend.

“Zhengting…” Wenjun started, but Zhengting interrupted him.

“Am I becoming my uncle?” he asked.

“I… what?” Wenjun asked. “I don’t know, I only met him once, at the wedding. I don’t know how he was.”

Zhengting chuckled. “He was my hero. I always thought if I end up like him, I would be the happiest person alive. But now… I’m not so sure. Maybe he hadn’t even been happy at all.”

“What makes you say that?”

Zhengting looked down on his hands, wringing them together in a nervous glitch.

“Because I live my life just like he did. And look at me, I’m not happy, I’m just a mess,” he said, not trying to hold back that rouge teardrop that had been trying to escape from his eyes for hours now. “I work every single day, I try to surround myself with friends, so I wouldn’t be alone… but it’s worse than it ever was. I try to justify that I’m useful in Shanghai, but no one really needs me there. My sister needed me here. My father needs me here. And… you will be here as well. And I won’t be.”

“So what? You want to abandon everything you have built over there and get back here to play nursemaid? Completely ignoring everyone else that counts on you?”

“Huh?” Zhengting tried not be offended, but there’s no way he could pretend not to be. Did Wenjun not understand what he meant? “Excuse me?”

Wenjun put down his glass and took a deep breath. Zhengting just looked at him, as he gathered his thoughts and the elder already knew that he will be on the receiving end of a scold. A part of Zhengting had found a little satisfaction in that, considering that anything would have been better than the stony silence Wenjun had given him for the past month.

“Do you remember when the two of us first met?”

Zhengting nodded. It was at the dinner reception the day before their siblings’ wedding, to introduce the families to each other. Zhengting had met his sister’s future parents-in-law beforehand, but not Wenjun, the shy and timid little brother. The two of them had been seated next to each other during dinner and Zhengting remembered going for extra lengths to make the younger man actually talk to him. All he managed to get was a few polite answers about the weather, school and Wenjun’s work as the new rising star of the modelling world, but otherwise it was the most awkward evening of Zhengting’s life. Actually, Wenjun’s behaviour continued to be like that around him for months up until that faithful birthday of Wenjun’s when the younger finally let himself go and Zhengting had a chance to get to know him.

“I have a hard time making new friends, God knows you know that more than anyone, considering that usually you’re the one forcing me into situations like that!” Wenjun’s voice brought him back from his memories. “And that catastrophic dinner was no exception to that. And it definitely didn’t help that my parents have been practically in love with you at that point. You know why?”

Zhengting shook his head. The elder members of the Bi family always seemed like a pleasant couple and they always treated Zhengting fondly, but he didn’t know that they would have any particular feelings towards him.

“Up until the point you had met them, they hated your sister.”

“What?” Zhengting’s eyes went wide as saucers.

“She was all right in their eyes, but she seemed too perfect and they were suspicious. And they hated the fact, that Gege would marry into your family. Your father was just diagnosed, and they thought he shouldn’t take this burden onto his own shoulders, no matter how nice Jie is. But then they met you, and you were so charming and kind and considerate and just overall perfect, that suddenly, your sister was a suitable match after all.”

“And then I moved away,” Zhengting concluded. “They must have been disappointed in me…”

“No, Zhengzheng, that’s not my point. Your problem was never that you didn’t have any impact on people. Your problem is that you never realize how much impact you actually have.” Wenjun put down his glass. “Just look at the past few weeks. Starting with Zeren. He would have been fine just dating around with Yanchen if you don’t meddle, effectively ruining things for Xukun and Ziyi as well, since their relationship shouldn’t have been as scandalous if it wasn’t for all the crap with you beforehand. And then, everything you made Yanlei go through with a single sentence of yours!”

"How have you heard about that?"

"Yanlei called me," Wenjun shrugged. "They seem to think I am some sort of handler of yours. I guess I have always been just that."

“I didn’t plan that to happen!”

“Of course, you didn’t!” Wenjun exclaimed. He wasn’t talking too loudly, but it still felt like he was yelling at full volume. “You were just bitter about Lin fucking Yanjun and you drank, and you blabbered, completely forgetting that the only reason Qin Fen even considered Yanlei as a potential investment because you said so! You acted like your words meant nothing, but they do! They always did.”

Zhengting didn’t say anything, his words stuck in his throat.

“You surround yourself with people all the time, because you don’t want to feel useless and lonely, I get that. Because for some reason, you took this into your head, that your life only has worth if other people think so. But if you do that, you have to take responsibility for your actions as well.”

Wenjun took a deep breath. He wasn’t done yet, apparently.

“You just realized that your family needs you? They have been missing you since you left, but guess what? They were proud of you that you took a risk. That once in your life you did something for your own good and not just because you wanted someone else’s approval! Did you not come to visit because you were that busy? No, you weren’t. You didn’t come back here, because you knew you would feel guilty because of your dad and the illusion you built up around yourself would crumble.”

Zhengting has placed his wine glass onto the kitchen counter a little bit more forcefully that he planned. Yes, Wenjun may have been right, but he won’t just sit here and take all this silently.

“Then tell me something, Bi Wenjun,” Zhengting started, his voice shaking slightly with repressed emotions. “Why only telling me this right here and right now? What do you even angry at me right now? What you’re saying doesn’t even make any sense!”

“I’m not angry. All I am saying is that you can’t run away just because things get complicated,” Wenjun told him. “Jie and Gege are fine. Your dad is fine. They don’t need you, not like you think they do. But do you know who needs you? Justin and Chengcheng. Quanzhe, Zeren and everyone in your company! You have a life there and a good one at that! Don’t move back here for the wrong reasons.”

“And what about you?” he asked. “What about your life in Shanghai? What about the people who depend on you over there, huh?”

“I don’t have a life in Shanghai, Zhengting,” Wenjun shook his head. “You do and you just drag me along with you. No one needs me there.”

“I need you there! Isn’t that enough?” Zhengting snapped. “Maybe it’s my life, but you’re part of it! I thought I matter to you.”

Wenjun had laughed out loud, but there was no joy in his voice. He raised both of his hand to tuck on his hair helplessly.

“Don’t you see? You still don’t see?” he said. “After everything that happened the other night?”

“No!” Zhengting spat out angrily. “All I see is that you are blaming me for every little thing for some reason!”

“I don’t blame you for anything, I just can’t do this anymore! I need to get away from you!” Wenjun said. Zhengting paled visibly: was he that horrible of a person that the only man he ever truly loved can’t even be in his presence? Why? What happened? Everything was fine up until few months ago. Just… what happened? Zhengting didn’t understand.

“Why?” he stammered out, his voice barely a whisper.

“Because I can’t live my life pretending that I am not desperately and pathetically in love with you!” Wenjun finally exclaimed.

Zhengting’s mouth opened and then closed again. He couldn’t even think of an appropriate answer. Wenjun let out a desperate moan: he obviously didn’t plan to tell him that.

“I love you, Zhengting and not how I should love you,” Wenjun continued. “I have loved you ever since you sat down beside me and started to chatter on for the rest of the night. Or when you clearly could have gone home on my birthday and you still stayed because my plans were ruined. I moved to Shanghai for you, hoping that one day I’ll be worthy of you. All this time I have been watching you just thrive, trying to convince myself that you truly need me, while it was getting clearer and clearer everyday how I can’t even come close to measuring up to you. I tried to get over it, I thought if I leave for a few months I would forget you, but it didn’t work. You… are like a drug I just can’t quit! And it’s not good for me!”

_Why is it not good? Why do you think that you need to get away from me?_

“I need something more permanent. I need to build a life that not revolves around you. I need to get away from you, you have to understand!” Wenjun turned back towards the counter: it seemed like he couldn’t look Zhengting in the eye anymore. “I’m sorry if I hurt you in the past few weeks but I knew you would try to stop me from moving and I knew that I would let you do it, the stupid thing I am.”

Long silence followed after all this. Wenjun clearly didn’t know how to go on after his confession, fidgeting nervously, while Zhengting tried to gather his wits about himself.

What should he say? Should he just come out and say it? He had to think very hardly about this: would it help Wenjun with his own conflicted feelings if he knew the truth?

All of a sudden, Zeren’s words seemed to echo through his mind from a few weeks ago: _You two are dangerously co-dependent._ Was it really the best course of action to confess what he feels right now?

“Why haven’t you told this to me before?” Zhengting finally spoke, still unsure of what to do.

“Honestly, at first I thought you knew and you’re ignoring it,” he told the counter absentmindedly. “But then I got to know you better, and I realized that I will never be enough for you. You told me how you don’t want to fall in love and then I had seen you with Ziyi and all those other flings, all of those telling me that you were serious about this claim. I told myself that I should be happy with what part I have of you. I knew you wouldn’t have cast me out from among your friends, but I was way more afraid of the pity, you know? You would have just looked at me, feeling guilty about not returning my feelings and going out of your way to make me feel comfortable. That would have been worse than rejection.”

Zhengting couldn’t deny it: if Wenjun would have confessed his feelings for him up until a few days ago, this would have been his reaction exactly. But otherwise, he was so wrong in so many ways, Zhengting didn’t even know where to start in convincing him.

“Anyway, I’m staying at my new place tonight,” Wenjun said, straightening up, putting his wine glass into the dishwasher and grabbing his coat from the chair he had thrown it when he got home. All the way, not even looking at Zhengting. “Please, take care of Ge, okay? I’m taking my car as well and pick him up in the morning, so you can have theirs if you want to come by to the hospital later. See you!”

And without a single look spared towards Zhengting, he was gone. Zhengting didn’t try to stop him. He went upstairs into his old room and laid there for what seemed like hours, before he finally decided to give up on pretending to sleep. He went over to his old desk: his sister didn’t even pack away his university stuff from the drawers (“Sometimes it’s better for Dad like this, you know?”). He found a sketchpad and went through his old designs barely registering what he saw until he reached a particular one.

It was a wedding dress, but not the type you would expect: a little bit traditional but otherwise more of a western style dress. He remembered drawing this inspired by a debate between his mother and his sister whether she should have a traditional or a western style wedding. He actually never showed her, only Wenjun had seen it a few weeks later as he went through his sketches and found this particular one the most eye-catching. Zhengting, who had been nothing back then but a hopeful intern in a local business, struggling to finish his degree had been awfully shy about showing his work to anyone just yet, but Wenjun smiled at him and earnestly asked him why he is afraid, because he had seen models on runway wearing much worse things and being applauded. He promised that if Zhengting would one day finally release a clothing line on his own, Wenjun would be on that runway. Zhengting remembered laughing at him, telling him that by that time would come, he’s going to be so famous he wouldn’t want to lower himself to some low-level nobody’s fashion show, but the model just held out his pinkie to officialise his promise. Zhengting rolled his eyes and sealed the promise. It might have been silly but this conversation had inspired Zhengting to design his first portfolio, which later on had earned him his first major job and – about a year later – the attention of Gucci.

He just sat there, looking at the drawing, slowly contemplating everything in his life ever since that day. How much he can thank Wenjun for it. How much the other man had done to make him happy. But he had to seriously think about this: what has he done for the other one? He took a pencil from the desk and wrote three single sentences to the paper, as if a confession to himself, something he had almost told Wenjun a few hours ago, and now he realized he shouldn’t say out loud.

 _What makes you think that I don’t love you just as much as you love me, then?_ He had written to the page. Maybe this way, it would be easier to not tell him. _But it doesn’t matter, because you’re right. It’s better for you without me._ He almost immediately felt embarrassed about it: how silly it was, writing out his thoughts like a diary? He quickly ripped the page out of the sketchbook, violently shoving the piece of paper away.

As he sat there not even looking at anything particular anymore a thought occurred to him. He turned the pad to an empty page, grabbed his pencil again and started to draw.

 

“This is the most beautiful baby to ever grace Earth,” Zhengting stated as he looked through the observation glass the next afternoon.

“I know, right?” his sister said, smiling widely. Zhengting had found her alone half an hour ago, anxious to go back to the NICU after her lunch. Apparently, her husband had to go to his office, to arrange his holiday and Wenjun took him, thus leaving his sister momentarily alone.

“When can I hold her?” he asked.

“They might release her from intensive care tomorrow morning, if her vitals are good enough, then you can baby her as much as you want,” she said. “They let me hold her for a few seconds, but not much. It’s better for her recovery like this.”

Zhengting squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

“You just have to be patient, Jie, don’t worry,” he told her. “And I’m so glad you are all right.”

His sister reached for his hand and patted it gently.

“I am fine! I swear, you all overreacted, really. Seriously, those Bi boys should have known better, scaring you like that, dragging you all the way here…” she chuckled. “Huh. The Bi Boys. It could be the name of a boyband. Can you imagine them wearing baggy jeans and hip-hop hats, spinning on their heads?”

“Jie, I’m serious!” Zhengting scolded her. “Anything could have happened to you, and it would have killed me if I haven’t been here!”

“But nothing happened!” she interrupted him. “I’m all right and she will be all right as well. But you had left your job behind without any prior notice! How are things with the company?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, I read e-mails, my phone is on and my directors are good, they can handle stuff.”

“And is Dad all right? I was worried he might be disturbed by all this, it’s better if we stick to a routine.”

“Well, it seemed like the usual.” Zhengting shrugged. “He took his meds, he seemed happy about his new granddaughter and then he talked about how he doesn’t want his son to end up like me.”

His sister grimaced at that. “He thought you’re Uncle again?” Zhengting nodded.

“The nurse told me he had been up on the waiting list for a home,” he said. “Is that true, Jie? Why didn’t you tell me that something is wrong?”

“Because there’s nothing wrong!” she protested. “But we have to face this, he won’t get any better. He will need constant care and we can’t provide that for him.”

“I can…”

“No, you can’t!” she interrupted him even before he could say it. “Okay, maybe you can, but I don’t want you to do so. No one wants you to do so! Zhengzheng, honey don’t do this to yourself, you have to live your life! We have been through this before.”

“But what about your life? What about your daughter?”

“My life is my problem, not yours. I was fine until now, and my daughter is the reason why I’m trying to find a retirement home for Dad right now. We can still call or visit him or fetch him anytime we want, it’s not like he is going to prison.”

“I suppose you are right,” Zhengting sighed.

“Of course I am!” his sister smirked. “I am your big sister, I’m always right.”

There was a lull in their conversation as Zhengting let out a huge yawn.

“What’s up with you today? You have been yawning ever since you arrived here” his sister noticed right away, of course.

“I… haven’t got much sleep last night,” he confessed hesitantly. The real truth would have been that he drifted off to sleep around seven in the morning and woke up at nine in the same position as his phone started to go off with a call from Cheng Xiao.

“Why not?”

For a brief moment Zhengting contemplated coming clean to his sister about everything but he was not sure what she would tell him. What if she would blame him for treating Wenjun this way for years? What if she told him that he was selfish and that she wouldn’t let him go anywhere near her daughter?

“I was drawing. And I didn’t notice the time.”

“Drawing?” his sister perked up at that. “Did you design something? Can I see it?”

“Maybe,” he hummed in response. “Maybe not?”

“Come on! Why not?”

“Well, I have been thinking…” he hesitated. It was a fleeting thought last night as he drew, thinking about what Ziyi, Zeren and Yanjun told him, but in the light of the morning it seemed a little silly.

“You will release them?” she guessed, surprising him. Zhengting didn’t say anything, but his expression must have been telling because she squealed loudly. “Oh my god! You’re actually doing it, that would be so great! It had been ages, since you did your own designs, I’m so happy for you!”

“Don’t be too enthusiastic just yet, I still have to talk about this with my executives once I get back.”

“Nonetheless, it would be so nice to see you doing what you like again.”

“See, that’s what I don’t understand,” he told her. “Why do people always tell me that I am miserable as an executive? I love my job!”

“I know, I know,” she gestured dismissively. “But this is your passion! You shouldn’t forget about that! You should never settle for the second best, love.”

_Yeah, sure. But what if I hurt the first best so much that I don’t deserve him anymore?_

 

Zhengting had stayed for a whole week to be there when his sister and niece was released from the hospital.

On Tuesday, his sister told him that Wenjun and his brother was at Wenjun’s new apartment since his stuff he wanted to bring with him from Shanghai arrived and he needed help. Zhengting smiled and politely refused to keep them company.

On Wednesday, he sent his new designs to Ziyi in an email. He immediately texted him a series of excited emojis, telling him that they would have a talk once he is back. This was also the day he was allowed to hold his niece for the first time. He cried and he wasn’t too proud to admit it. He found himself unable to stop singing a soft lullaby he learned from Xinchun to her and she seemed to like it.

On Thursday, he surprised Zeren at the opening of his exhibition. He jumped on him right away, crushing him in a hug, the stuffy suited people trying to talk to the photographer around them be damned.

“These weeks were awesome, Gege!” he exclaimed enthusiastically. “These people love my photos here, I think that magazine executive might give me an offer, but I’m not sure. Fingers crossed!”

Zeren also told him that Wenjun had a gig but he sent him a cute fruit basket and promised to come and see it the next day.

“I’m happy that Wenjun ge will be around, to be honest,” he admitted. “I’m a little bit lonely around here. I miss you and the guys. I want to move back, honestly. The curator of this place would like to sponsor me, but honestly, I’m hoping for that magazine gig to pull through. That would allow me to move back to Shanghai and just travel here and there occasionally. This place is great, but my home is there with you all…”

On Friday, her sister was finally released, and they had introduced the baby to their father together. She was named after their mother and their Dad cried when he heard it. He even recognized Zhengting for the first time this week. The new addition of the family felt a little fussy with the change of scenery at first, but Zhengting singing her the lullaby seemed to have a good effect on her.

On Saturday, he spent all day with his niece, already dying inside a little as his flight back to Shanghai was scheduled for the next morning.

Wenjun made sure that the two of them would never cross path for the rest of his visit and Zhengting let him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What happened in Beijing?” he asked without any greetings.  
> “My sister gave birth,” Zhengting replied without hesitation.  
> “Ge.”  
> Justin’s gaze was so murderous, Zhengting was surprised he didn’t drop dead immediately.  
> “Why didn’t you tell Wenjun ge not to move?”  
> “Come on, baby. You know I couldn’t have stop him even if I had wanted to. Just like with Zeren,” Zhengting told him tiredly.  
> “Yeah sure,” Justin rolled his eyes. “And when will we stop acting like I’m an idiot and didn’t noticed the most obviously painful pining ever?”
> 
> Justin interferes and everyone gets some conlcusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS A DOUBLE UPDATE. Which means I just posted the previous chapter to this story merely a few hours ago, so please note that you should read that one first, before you read this one.

 

 

“And this is her, yawning at me,” Zhengting showed his phone to his roommates as they were sitting around him on the living room couch, slurping up noodles from take-out boxes. Quanzhe obediently cooed at the picture on his phone screen, while Chengcheng just rolled his eyes.

“And let me guess, the next picture will be about her sleeping,” he said, sighing. Zhengting tutted at him disapprovingly.

“I’m sorry, ge. But it’s a new-born baby, all he does is sleep, eat and pass gas,” He explained himself defensively.

“It’s kind of true, Zheng ge,” Justin came to his boyfriend’s defence immediately. “You took 300 photos and just as many videos. She’s cute and everything, but it gets a little… repetitive after some time.”

“All right, all right,” Zhengting said grumpily, but chuckled afterwards, nonetheless. “I get it, I’ll stop now. Pass me the sweet and sour chicken, you ungrateful brats.”

“And how’s Wenjun ge?” Quanzhe asked. Zhengting’s heart panged but tried to pretend that nothing was wrong with them, mentioning him so casually. “Did he go to Zeren’s opening too?”

“No, he had work,” Zhengting told him and mentally patted himself on the back, as his voice sounded very even. “He’s fine, settling in at his new apartment.”

“I still can’t believe they’re both gone,” Chengcheng sighed. “First, Xinchun ge, then Zeren ge and now, Wenjun ge. Our gang is falling apart…”

“I’m still not sure when did we all become a gang, Chengcheng,” Zhengting rolled his eyes.

“Of course, we did! We already have the secret handshake!” Quanzhe said cheekily. “And we’re brainstorming over the name in a group chat with Zeren ge!”

Zhengting just laughed out loud, stuffing his face again with some noodles. It was okay. Zhengting could do this. He could pretend that everything was fine with him and maybe if he tried hard enough, it would be true. His gaze briefly met Justin’s and one single look made him realize that it wasn’t working.

 

Zhengting got back home from his first day at work late in the evening completely exhausted. His last meeting was with Ziyi: they discussed the summer collection and their upcoming fashion show in April. It was time for them to finalize their plans and they had very different ideas. He sighed tiredly as he loosened the knot on his tie, shutting the door of his bedroom, just to jump from scare as he realized that Justin was sitting on his bed casually.

“What happened in Beijing?” he asked without any greetings.

“My sister gave birth,” Zhengting replied without hesitation.

“Ge.”

Justin’s gaze was so murderous, Zhengting was surprised he didn’t drop dead immediately.

“Why didn’t you tell Wenjun ge not to move?”

“Come on, baby. You know I couldn’t have stop him even if I had wanted to. Just like with Zeren,” Zhengting told him tiredly.

“Yeah sure,” Justin rolled his eyes. “And when will we stop acting like I’m an idiot and didn’t noticed the most obviously painful pining ever?”

“Huang Minghao!”

“Don’t ‘Huang Minghao’ me, ge! You know, I actually thought that after New Year’s Eve you had realized you are returning his feelings and you two will finally – finally! – be happy together, but it’s obviously not the case!”

“This is not that simple,” Zhengting shook his head. “Wait a minute… You knew he had feelings for me?”

Zhengting was worried that Justin’s eyes would stick from all the eyerolling he does.

“Of course, I did. It was very obvious,” he said, waving it off. “But this means he confessed. I didn’t expect him to do it, I thought you would kiss him senseless before he would say anything.”

“Have you been thinking a lot about how Wenjun and I would get together?” Zhengting sighed.

“Of course, I wrote down a few scenarios, I’ll e-mail them to you. Some ended up a little raunchy in the end.”

“Ugh…” Zhengting grimaced in disgust. “Seriously?”

“Hey, don’t blame me!” Justin put his hands up defensively. “It’s not my fault you two are horny bastards, I just write the truth!”

“And do you share these in that group chat of yours as well?”

Justin sat up to look him in the eye.

“Ge, of course not! Just on your couple topic on Weibo using my secret account. Wenjun’s fanclub totally ships you, not so surprisingly, considering you two are always very touchy-feely in public,” he told him. “In all seriousness though, I’m worried about you. You should tell at least someone what happened. It doesn’t necessarily need to be me… but it should totally be me, by the way. It’s logical I knew the two of you for the longest time.”

Zhengting sighed as he sat back on his bed, his back against the headboard, Justin mimicking him, scooting close to him for comfort. The elder looked at his little brother from another mother, thinking back that how did he missed out on this boy growing up. So, he told him everything about his semi-fight with Wenjun.

“But Zhengting… WHY?” Justin exclaimed in frustration when he was finished. “Why the hell didn’t you tell him about how you feel? Now he thinks you don’t love him back, you selfish bastard!”

“I am not selfish!” Zhengting protested. “Okay, that’s not true, I am pretty selfish, but this might have been the only unselfish thing I have ever done!”

“Oh! And how so?”

“Because he shouldn’t stay just because of me!” Zhengting told him. “If he feels inferior to me, that’s not a good base for a relationship, isn’t it? Zeren was right, we’re dangerously co-dependent. I want him to have time to find himself. And if he will still want me after a few months away from me, I will tell him the truth. But not until then.”

Justin opened his mouth to say something but closed his mouth to just look at Zhengting contemplating on what he should say next.

“Zhengzheng ge… Wenjun is not the only one feeling inferior, isn’t he?” he asked hesitantly.

“What do you mean?”

“I want to ask you again. Why didn’t you tell him that you love him?”

“I just told you!” Zhengting snapped. “I just want what’s best for him!”

“And what makes you think that what’s best for Wenjun ge is not you?”

Zhengting looked back at the younger sadly.

“Do you really have to ask that?” he said, holding back those damn tears again. “How could I be the best for Wenjun? After all I had done? Even if I ignore the fact that I had hurt him for years by not realizing that he’s hiding his feelings from me, look at me! I am a mess. My whole life is! I ruined everything for myself and I seem to be making worse for everyone around me nowadays. If I were you, I would move away from me, before it’s not too late!”

“Well, Gege.” Justin started, resting his head on Zhengting’s shoulder patting his arm affectionately. Zhengting was surprised: the only person Justin ever touches deliberately is Chengcheng at that is also only happening when the two of them are alone or on very rare occasions. “Don’t you think it would be great to fix all this mess?”

“How?”

“The way you always do,” Justin shrugged. The younger casually took his phone, typing in his supposed to be secret passcode, going through his messages, tapping on one and showing it to Zhengting. It was a message from Zhangjing. Yesterday he sent him his new designs on a whim and on the screen, there were the replies he received the same day. “Organize a party.”

**Zhangjing:** Zhengting, this is just amazing! I might steal them, hehe :P

**Zhangjing** : Just kidding, thanx for showing it to me. YOU MUST MAKE THESE!!!!!!! XOXO

**Zhangjing** : Showed it to YJ, he was FLOORED!! If you need any help, let us know. We fully support you! We love you! <3 <3

How did Justin know about everything that was happening to him, Zhengting had no idea.

 

“All right!” Zhengting said once the meeting room’s door shut behind his last executive director. “Let’s take a risk.”

Ziyi’s jaw dropped open in surprise, then his face had morphed into a smile.

“Are you serious? Are we actually doing it?”

“Umm… excuse me?” Xingjie quipped up suspiciously. “Would you two let us in the know?”

“Zhengting designed a clothing line on his holiday. And I guess I managed to convince him to release it.”

“What? Really?” Cheng Xiao asked surprised.

“Is it sellable?” Xingjie added. “Or is it just for art purposes?”

“Well, it’s a little edgy…” Zhengting hesitated.

“I think it’s totally sellable,” Ziyi dismissed him.

“Is this it?” Mubo asked holding up the file in front of them. Zhengting nodded. Every director had turned their attention to the file, silently skipping through the different pieces. “Well, this is definitely not our usual niche,” he stated as he got to the end.

“But it still has some of the Yuehua design, I can see it in there,” Cheng Xiao argued. “This is not exactly my field, but I would wear these things.”

“Me too!” Ziyi nodded enthusiastically. “That’s the point!”

“It’s risky,” Xingjie hummed. “But I think we should go for it.”

“You really think so, Jie ge?” Zhengting asked. “Because we’re only doing this if all of you are on board with it.”

“Sure. This will either be a huge success or an utter catastrophe,” Xingjie admitted but then shrugged. “But hey, we work in fashion, we practically live for opportunities like this.”

There was approving buzz coming from all the places around the round meeting table.

“Zhengting…” Mubo started as he was going through the other parts of the proposal. “Are you certain about the open-air fashion show?”

“What would say city look more than a spectacular city view?” Zhengting asked, opening his arms questioningly. “The weather should be fine by then for the collection. If it rains, we can have a tent without the sides, but I’ll seriously start praying to every God that is possible for it to not rain that day! And the wind should be fine, the fabrics would have a new dimension that way, come to think of it.”

“And is this place you have in mind is what I think you have in mind?” he asked hesitantly. Zhengting had expected this: Qin Fen had probably told everything to his boyfriend about their debate.

“Yes, it is,” he nodded. “Industrial chic. I was also thinking making it into a charity event. The money would go to the improvements in welfare for rural areas, heavens know they need the money, I just read an interesting article about their struggles.”

“This is actually perfect,” Meiqi, his Marketing Director had hummed. “So ‘everyone can have a city look’. We can also offer say, two percent of the profit we make from every item purchased later on.”

“I agree,” Mubo smiled in the end.

“Any objections then?” Ziyi asked the table. All directors shook their heads. Zhengting nodded in confirmation.

“All right. Then we’re doing this.”

 

Zhengting was practically drowned in work till mid-March. He worked well into the evenings, he worked on weekends: since besides his regular duties, he also took up the responsibility of manufacturing the show pieces himself. His frenzy ended with Xingjie receiving a call from his sister of all people to do something about him overworking himself, because if her daughter wouldn’t get the lullaby Zhengting sang to her on her first week in the hospital and at home for that few days he was there, she just wouldn’t go to sleep! After the fourth phone call in a day, Zhengting had asked for Linkai’s help, who worked as a music producer to record him singing the song so he could send her. After sending him the original copy, his cheeky little friend ended up creating a hip-hop remix of the song – which apparently gained a lot of attention when he posted it on the internet (There was a sudden surge of new Weibo followers on his private account – he welcomed this, the extra attention might be needed considering his new clothing line). A day later his brother-in-law sent him a grateful message and that his voice is like a choir of angels. Zhengting guessed parenting a new-born is more of a challenge than the couple had expected.

Needless to say, after all this, Xingjie had forced him to delegate some of his regular duties to his underlings. “We are your director team, because we’re experts in our own fields, Zhengzheng.” He scolded him, “I know you have always been the hands-on type of boss but let us do our job. You’ll just have to approve things.”

Zhengting reluctantly agreed to his friend’s advice, but his workload was still quite menacing: considering the question of the venue was a crucial part of his plan.

 

His phone pinged with a message from Quanzhe and he felt his heart doing an excited flip as he had seen the text containing a single eggplant emoji: that was the signal, so he had thrown himself out his car and practically sprinted into Maverick’s.

“Dong Yanlei!” He exclaimed dramatically, as he stood right in the middle of the empty café, resting his hands on his hips triumphantly.

“What the hell?” Yanlei exclaimed, trying to break free from the grip Justin and Chengcheng had on him. “Did you three trick me into staying here, while Zhengting came?”

“Yes,” the three had said in unison.

“I know he is obnoxious most of the time and he’s way too violent when he is overexcited, but he still means well, and you know that,” Chengcheng told him. “At least hear him out, will you?”

“Don’t you three have anything better to do than help him with his crazy plans?”

Quanzhe just shrugged. “It’s a school break, we’re bored,” the other two looked at him murderously so he added smiling at Yanlei jovially, “And of course, we care about the well-being of all our friends!”

Yanlei sighed and shook them down from his arms.

“All right, I’m willing to hear you out, Zhengting,” he said. “But I’ll tell you right away, I really don’t want to hear you apologize. An apology helps nothing on my case.”

“I know,” Zhengting said. “And I know that you also know how I would want nothing more than to make this whole mess disappear, so I am not going to say how sorry I am.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because I thought a job would help on your situation.”

 

“Well, the restaurant is coming along nicely,” Zhengting observed going around the spacious room smelling like fresh paint everywhere around him.

“Yeah, the contractor said it would be ready to open for business in two weeks,” Yanlei admitted. “I have tons of work until then, I’m really far from ready just yet. I have no staff whatsoever… and I still have to design an appropriate menu… Zhengting, I won’t have time for your mad plan! It will backfire and ruin me forever!”

“Why? You will be ready with the restaurant by then and all I’m going to need in extra is a working elevator and a clean rooftop. And even for that I’ll pay. The rest of the decorations and the design of the rooftop will be handled by my crew.”

“Did your Board agree with you spending the company’s money that way?” Yanlei raised his eyebrows doubtfully.

“No, I’m spending my own money,” Zhengting stated bluntly.

“What? But you don’t have that kind of money!” Yanlei cried out. “I mean, sure, you’re rich, but not that rich! I thought all your money is in your apartment or in your company!”

Zhengting rolled his eyes.

“I’m sure I can afford a decent building crew and an elevator to be installed for a friend! Of course, that’s all I can offer now, but I’m asking you to put a little trust in me once again, please!”

Yanlei shuffled, looking down at his feet, seemingly unsure of everything.

“I know it’s a lot to ask,” Zhengting said again. “But I would really like this to work out for you. Besides, we already sent out the invites with the address, sorry. So really, it would be you who would be helping me out for once,” He added with a hopeful smile on his face.

Yanlei let out an amused scoff, shaking his head a little.

“All right, you win,” he said in the end. “Let’s write a damn contract now, though.”

Zhengting smiled. Everything was going according to plan.

 

His good mood over the success with Yanlei seemed to be lasting for weeks, giving him an extra boost for his busy workdays. If he would’ve let himself think about it more deeply, he might have been a scary sight for his employees: his relentless enthusiasm and tireless hard work might have come across more of an obsession than something that genuinely made him happy.

“But I am happy,” he told a baffled Lin Yanjun and You Zhangjing one day as he ironed a freshly sewed seam on his workshop table in his office building. The latter he invited in for consultation, considering how much he enjoyed working with the other designer in December and the former decided to tag along out of mere curiosity. The two of them were probably alerted about his weird behaviour through Dinghao, since needless to say that with this new surge of enthusiasm for his work, his social life was practically non-existent. He attended a few dinners with his closest friends: the remaining members of their “gang” – name still undetermined – plus of course Dinghao as attachment, but otherwise he emptied his social calendar, refusing to go to parties or bigger gatherings. Even on Justin’s birthday in February: he agreed to host a party, but he ended up spending it locked inside his workroom. And he just determinedly refused anyone who suggested any sort of party for his own birthday.

“Are you serious? Do I look like I have time to bother with my birthday?” Zhengting rolled his eyes at Xinchun when the younger suggested dining out together for the occasion. His friends didn’t even try to suggest a real party: they already knew that as much as Zhengting liked celebrating birthdays, he never really did anything for his own. They were used to it and if they would have ended up organizing something as a surprise, they would always make sure that Wenjun would prepare him beforehand. So obviously, a party was completely out of question this year.

Because if he was honest with himself, even those little gatherings had reminded him about the drilling emptiness by his side that was left there by a certain lanky supermodel. Sometimes, Zhengting could swear that his friends had been leaving a little Wenjun-shaped space beside him every time they gathered around the table or they huddled up on the floor to play games and it felt like slowly killing him.

People must have noticed his swing in moods, and after some time, they stopped asking him about how Wenjun is doing. He suspected Justin’s work in that, and he was certain that Yanjun and Zhangjing had also been warned before they came to visit him, hence the tense mood of this conversation.

“It was all you who inspired me to do this, Yanjun ge,” Zhengting told him. “I’m doing what I love again and at the same time I’m helping people. This is exactly what makes me happy.”

“We’re happy for you, really, Zhengzheng,” Yanjun started, hesitantly looking at Zhangjing for help, who just tried to send some not-so covert signals with eyebrows, leaving the former CEO alone with his struggles. “But maybe, you should take a day off now and then, okay? It’s not good burying yourself in work, it will ruin your health.”

“Yanjun is right,” Zhangjing finally decided to join in. “When was the last time you went on a hike or something? Linong will be here next week and we thought we would take him out for a little trip, why don’t you join us? You can bring your dogs too, if you want?”

The advice sounded reasonable, so the first sunny weekend of spring had found Zhengting hiking in the nearby mountains outside the city with Linong for company, who had absolutely fell in love with Wubaiwan and Fuli. It was supposed to be a program for all four of them, but their companions seemed to be in their own world.

For the whole expanse of the trip, they would either go painfully slow, hand in hand, often stopping to kiss each other senseless or they would run ahead, chasing each other merrily and once the pursuer would reach the pursued, they would yet again proceed to kiss each other senseless.

An hour into this, Nongnong had mischievously suggested to change course and see when the two would notice that they went another direction and Zhengting heartily agreed.

“Were they always this bad?” Zhengting asked Linong as they were working their way up on a steep path in a leisure pace.

“I wouldn’t say this is bad,” Nongnong shrugged. “They’re just very much in love and I’m happy to see them like this again. But yes, they were always like this,” he chuckled as he tugged Fuli’s leash to urge the dog in the right direction. “It was even worse back in their uni days, it was quite funny to be honest, especially with the band stuff.”

“I really have to hear that band now…” Zhengting mused out loud. Nongnong just winked at him.

“I have videos, I’ll send it to you,” he said, making Zhengting laugh. “Prime blackmail material!”

It was a good day overall and Zhengting was proud to say that he made a new friend and he barely thought of his workload. If he ended up asking Nongnong for his mom’s contact about the rural development charity, no one had to know it. He wanted to ask him anyway.

And what was even better, that at some point he stopped imagining whether he and Wenjun would be like Zhangjing and Yanjun if they would be in the same situation.

 

By the end of March, Zhengting’s mood was soaring high. The collection was ready for the runway, he had his models, they had their sales prep, the elevator in Yanlei’s building was ready, everything was organized.

Everything was so great that he decided that he deserved an early leave on the last Friday of March, but as he was driving home, his phone started to ring with a phone call from Mubo.

“I’m driving, Mubo ge, be quick about it,” he warned his partnership manager. He was wearing a headset, but Shanghai traffic was still unreliable as it was, even without distractions.

“I’m just calling to tell you that we have RSVPs for the VIP list. I sent it to your phone for you to check it, because if there’s someone you want to be there for real and they checked no, I should try and convince them now, before everyone goes home for the weekend.”

“All right, I’ll check it,” Zhengting nodded as he stopped at the side-lane pulling up his email account to scan through the list Mubo sent him. He smiled as he noticed that the man himself had rsvp-ed with a plus one.

“Are you bringing Fen ge?” he asked.

“Yes,” Mubo hummed, his voice a little bit amused. “He is still mad at you, by the way. But I guess he’s more curious now than he would like to admit.”

Everything else seemed in order: all their business contacts had said they would come, many potential future business partners did as well. All of Zhengting’s friends had send an official note as well that they would be there.

Well, almost everyone and Zhengting’s heart sank into a pit at bottom of his stomach as he saw it.

“Yeah, what I wanted to ask is if it would be alright to call Wenjun? I know, we discussed that he won’t be walking for us now, but I was hoping he would attend and promote us, still? Meiqi is nagging me to get big names to talk about the show, she said we have to hype things up a little more.”

Zhengting just stared at his phone.

“Zhengting you still there?”

“Yeah,” Zhengting cleared his throat. “You can give him a call, see if you can convince him.”

“Me? But… I was hoping…”

“I won’t really have time to talk to him, because I just realized that there’s still something I have to do for the weekend, sorry, ge! But I’ll drum up a few other contacts of mine to get some star-power, okay? Maybe you should ask Xukun too? He has celebrity friends, if I am correct. And Jie ge knows that guy from that KPOP band.”

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do.” Mubo said after some silence. “Have a good weekend, Zhengzheng. And… cheer up, will you? Don’t overwork yourself!” And with that greeting, he hung up the phone.

Zhengting wondered why he even bothered with the lying: at this point every single employee of Yuehua Fashion probably knew that he had some sort of fallout with his best friend but admitting it out loud sounded like an even worse option.

He didn’t have much time to wallow in self-pity as a sudden push from behind him had quite literally shook him out of his reverie.

It was so sudden, he barely registered it happening. Someone had just collided with the back of his car, making Zhengting bang his head against his steering wheel. He slowly straightened back up and hissed angrily: this is definitely not what he wanted right now.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” The other driver was already out of his car, looking at Zhengting nervously. “Are you all right?” Zhengting looked up at the frantic woman, ready to tell her off but when he took in the expression on her face, he decided against it.

“It’s all right, I’ll be fine,” he reassured her. “Let’s just check out what happened, shall we?” he suggested, slowly getting out of the car, trying to minimize his dizziness. He groaned when he got a good look on the back of his car: his bumper was almost completely detached and broken.

“I have insurance, I will pay for it!” the woman tried to reassure him, thinking that his lack of words mean that he would explode from anger right away. He tried to let out a reassuring smile, but it didn’t really work.

“I’m not familiar with this area, do you know a good towing service nearby?” he asked, as he accepted her insurance information card, though he was certain that the woman had no idea how much this would cost her and he was pretty sure he would end up paying for it, not to burden the woman any further. The repairs for her own car would be just enough for her, extrapolating from the original state of her car.

“Of course, I’ll call them,” she told him, her phone already in her hands. “The best repair shop in the city is only a few blocks from here, they’ll sort you out right away!”

It didn’t take long for the towing car to arrive and just as Zhengting was hoping his series of bad luck ended, they guy driving the truck had got out and stopped dead on his tracks when he saw Zhengting. Zhengting took in his features and the realization dawned on him painfully.

“Oh, hello Zhengting. How are you?” he asked politely smiling at him.

“Yanchen,” Zhengting tried to squeeze out a semi-polite reply. “Hi.”

 

Yanchen had quickly and expertly installed Zhengting’s car on the platform of his truck and reassured the other driver with a wide smile that the other towing car will be arriving soon. He opened the passenger door for Zhengting, who climbed in wordlessly while the mechanic got around the front and got in as well.

“So, what happened with your beauty out in the back?” Yanchen tried to strike up a conversation, but Zhengting wasn’t having it. Noticing this, Yanchen didn’t need much time to change a course of action. “All right, I guess you sort of hate me and I don’t blame you for that. We don’t have to talk.”

Zhengting’s eyes narrowed.

“You do know who I am,” he said. “I wasn’t sure at New Year’s.”

“It’s hard not to,” Yanchen let out an amused scoff. “You’re Zhu Zhengting. I have heard about you even before… everything.”

_Even before Zeren told him about me. That’s what he wanted to say._

He took the man sitting beside him: he was sitting there very tensely, very much uncomfortable under Zhengting’s scrutinizing gaze: it was hard to associate this man with the literal playboy he had convinced himself Yanchen would be when he broke Zeren’s heart.

“Are you still with Ling Chi?” he asked curiously.

“No,” Yanchen told him, maybe even too quickly. “The two of us had been just friends, we met barely a month before the party when we were taking the same course.”

“It didn’t seem like you two were just friends,” Zhengting stated.

“We are just both very affectionate people and we drank a few cocktails already. It was nothing really.”

“Sure, you must be a very affectionate person!” Zhengting mocked him irritated. Maybe if he would have shown at least some of that precious affection towards Zeren, his friend’s heart wouldn’t have been broken.

Yanchen visibly flinched at his tone but didn’t try to defend himself.

“I don’t even know why I’m telling this to you,” he admitted. “It’s not like it matters. I had seen him at the party with that man, Ling Chi said he’s a model friend of yours. It seemed pretty serious. And I still check his Weibo, I had seen that he moved to Beijing. When I saw he would have an exhibit I was ready to sell everything I have for a ticket, but… never mind, you shouldn’t even listen to me.” Yanchen waved it off, letting out a nervous laugh, but Zhengting was just about to do the exact opposite of letting it go.

“What on Earth are you talking about?” he cried out, his voice practically spitting venom. “You dump him, and you still stalk him and act like this is a sob story for you?”

“What are _you_ talking about?” Yanchen asked. “Of course, I stalk him and it is a sob story for me, I was in love with him! I still am!”

“What?” Zhengting couldn’t hide his surprise over this discovery.

“I know it’s silly, but Zeren and I… we just instantly clicked. Like he’s my soulmate, you know? But I know that’s not how love works, you can’t just fall in love with someone at first sight and he is just so perfect! So funny, so intelligent and I am… well, me.” Zhengting guessed Yanchen was the type of person that once started to say things he wouldn’t stop for a long time. “But he still seemed to like me, which was completely unbelievable, and I couldn’t help myself but panic, because I knew I would do anything for that freaking dimple and you shouldn’t feel like that about someone you knew for three weeks, so I screwed it up. And no matter how I spent the past four months telling myself that it couldn’t be real, I still can’t get him out of my head!”

“But…” Zhengting stammered out utterly confused. “He told me you didn’t seem that interested. That you didn’t seem to show any interest in his interests, that you didn’t find him funny enough!”

Yanchen almost hit a stop sign when he heard that. If Zhengting wouldn’t have been so shocked about their conversation, he might have reminded Yanchen to the fact that he just got out of a car accident and would prefer not to be in a second one, but he was more interested in what the mechanic would say next than nagging him.

“How could he think I didn’t find him funny? He is the most hilarious person I have ever met!” Zhengting knew for sure that this must have been really love. Sure, Zeren was funny but not THAT funny! “And how could he think I am not interested in what he likes? I still listen to his playlist every day, it’s so damn good, here!” he reached for his truck radio station and pressed the play button: one of Zeren’s all-time favourite song had started to play, and Zhengting did recognized the pen-drive slotted into the USB. “The course I was taking with Ling Chi? It was an amateur photography class!”

“Really?”

“Yes! I just wanted him not to be embarrassed about me once he introduces me to his friends and then I saw the ad and applied on a whim. And I also knew how much Zeren loves to travel around, I thought how great it would be if we would both go and take pictures together and stuff.”

Zhengting was speechless at this point, staring at Yanchen with his mouth slightly open in disbelief.

“I know it’s silly,” Yanchen admitted self-consciously. “But it was how I felt. And I still can’t believe all of it was in vain. With him, happy with his gorgeous boyfriend and his dream job, away from me… Maybe that’s how it should have been.”

Zhengting needed a few extra moments to gather his wits, but once he managed, it came out as an angry burst.

“Yanchen, you’re the biggest idiot to ever walk on this damn planet! You completely screwed up and made Zeren miserable! Do you know how much heartbreak and humiliation you would have saved him – saved both of you! – if you had just come out and say it to him that night? Or the night after that, or after that? Not four months later, to me of all people, you idiot! Because guess what? He’s not dating Wenjun, he just felt sad and humiliated that his ex-boyfriend showed up with a date at a party he attended alone and Wenjun had offered to save him from further embarrassment!”

“What? They’re not really dating?”

“No!” Zhengting snapped at him furiously. “And now you put me in a very bad position, because I promised I wouldn’t meddle with someone’s love life anymore and I’m not sure that I should keep silent knowing this…”

“Zhengting, I’m telling you, the truth doesn’t matter anymore, he moved…”

“Oh, just shut up! He didn’t move away permanently! There’s big chance that he would move back after the exhibition. If he gets that offer from that travel magazine, he’d choose Shanghai for a home base.”

“So, he might be back soon?”

“Yes. But hush now and let me think of what to do about this.”

Yanchen obediently stayed silent as he parked their trailer to the garage. As they were getting out, Zhengting snatched Yanchen’s phone from the hands of its dumbfounded owner. He unlocked a phone and proceeded to enter his number.

“Do you think I should just call him… hey! How did you know my passcode?”

Zhengting gave him a scornful look.

“Zeren’s birthday, I took a guess. You’re a hopeless case, aren’t you, Yanchen?” he sighed. “And no, he won’t answer a call from you, in fact if I didn’t know the truth, I would vehemently tell him no to answer a call from you! But I can’t tell him the truth, you’ll have to. He might still choose not to take you back and move to Beijing permanently but… he needs to see that he has options.”

_And Wenjun ge didn’t deserve to have options, then?_ A voice that sounded very much like Justin’s echoed through Zhengting’s mind.

_This is a different situation. Zeren and Yanchen are not like us._

“How am I going to tell him then?” Yanchen shook him back to present with his voice. Zhengting had gave him a scrutinizing look.

“Do you own a suit?”

“Yes.”

“A decent one?”

“I dunno, it’s one of your stuff,” Yanchen shrugged. A fond smile appeared on his face. “Zeren chose it for me. He said I look sexier than the original model he photographed in it.”

“Is that so?” Zhengting hummed as his phone pinged with a text he sent for himself. “It should be good enough then.” He handed the phone back to its owner, opening up his own, shooting a quick text to Mubo before he would forget. “I’ll text you a flight number and a date. Wear the suit, get Zeren to the address I gave you. This would give you about an hour to talk, but if you make him late from my fashion show, I’ll be mad!”

“Zhengting,” Yanchen looked at his phone, a hesitantly hopeful smile spreading on his face. “How can I thank you for this?”

“Well, you could fix my car for a start,” Zhengting laughed as Yanchen only seemed to realize why he was meeting with Zhengting in the first place. “But really. You can thank me by not screwing up!”

 

“I’m really proud of you, you know ge,” Justin said as Zhengting was busy putting away his favourite outfit in the bag. He still had a lot of things to do before the fashion show that night: he would change later.

“Don’t be so confident, baby,” Zhengting warned him. “It can still blow up in my face spectacularly.”

“Nah, I will be proud of the show too, once it’s over,” Justin shrugged. “But right now, I’m talking about how you handled the fact that Wenjun ge is not coming. I mean, you told me you want to do this because you wanted to show him that you are not a mess, whatever that even means…” Justin rolled his eye, making air quotes in the air. “And he won’t even be there to see it. Honestly, I was worried that you would crumble.”

“Oh,” Zhengting said. “I guess, it’s not about him anymore.”

“So, that was it? You don’t love him anymore, suddenly?”

“No! Of course, I still love him!” Zhengting protested. “I just meant, that maybe it was him who motivated me to do this, but I have been thinking… That I could really easily have told him what I feel for him in January and be done with it, but… he said he wants me to live up to my full potential and maybe he was right. Do you know what I mean?”

“Not in the slightest,” Justin shook his head in confusion.

“I wasn’t unhappy with my life before,” he explained. “But I guess I wasn’t happy either. I know it sounds weird, but this is really not a contradiction. I kept dreaming about all the things I want to do and all the things I want to change and yet, I did nothing. All I did was creating excuses. Maybe that’s why I thought if I meddle with people’s lives, I can somehow justify how my own life is stagnating.”

“All right, I get it now,” Justin nodded. “So Wenjun ge sent you on a journey of self-discovery. What did you discover?”

“That I am capable of literally anything if I put my mind into it?” Zhengting answered, grinning teasingly at the younger. Justin hit him playfully with a socked foot.

“How humble of you, gege.”

“No, I’m serious!” Zhengting giggled. “I don’t have to go this way or that way with my company and I don’t have to chose between living with my family in Beijing or living here with all of you in Shanghai. Of course, in the past few weeks I basically did nothing but eat, sleep and work but… I think I’m ready to let a little loose. Maybe give more responsibility to my subordinates and spend more time with doing some designing. Go and visit Jie more often. Get a proper holiday for once.”

Justin just hummed in response, urging Zhengting to go on.

“It’s all about balance, really,” the elder continued. “I am going to live my life but that does not mean I’ll stop caring for others. It’s a part of who I am. Seeing all of you happy makes me happy. And that’s something I don’t want to change and if Wenjun thinks I’m bad for him because of that, then maybe he’s the one bad for me after all.”

“Well,” Justin said with a satisfied grin on his face. “That was kind of the point I wanted to make with urging you to fix all this.”

“I know, I figured that out some time ago, you brat,” Zhengting rolled his eyes. “I don’t know when you became so wise, but I am not that dumb either.”

“Really? You have no idea when I became wise?” Justin looked at him stunned. “Maybe when I went through the same thing?”

“Huh?”

“It’s not that unheard of. That limbo between happiness and unhappiness. I felt the same thing.”

“Really? When?” Zhengting asked, concerned. How did he not notice this?

“Sure! When I was a senior in high school,” Justin giggled. “You know how I was. The class’ whizz kid, everyone expected me to go to a top university and study rocket science or something and I myself was ready to do that, not even realizing that’s not what I want to do. Do I have to tell you what happened after?”

Zhengting shook his head, laughing. “No, you don’t have to. I remember the rest.”

“Good,” Justin sighed. “Cause I don’t want to remember that nosy lunatic who told me to drag my sorry arse to Shanghai and live with him while I think of what I want to do with my life.”

Zhengting just laughed at his little brother’s antics. “Nosy lunatics are the worst type of lunatics.”

Justin stood up on top of Zhengting’s bed, just to jump off on his way out of the designer’s bedroom.

“This is not exactly that deep Zheng ge, you have known it, I had known it before,” he said over his shoulder. “But I guess it’s the hardest when you’re trying to apply it to your own life.”

“It might be,” Zhengting agreed, patting Justin’s head affectionately. Justin let him, even turning his head into his palm to give him his best puppy eyes.

“Zhengzheng gege,” he started off. “I am so happy for your life-changing epiphany! But do you know what your new lifestyle really needs?”

Zhengting’s hand stopped as the realization hit him. The thought was not even that far-fetched that Justin would go such lengths for something he wants.

“No, we are not getting a maid! I have people living here for free to do that!”

“But just think about it, how much time do you spend average in a day yelling at us because we didn’t clean up after ourselves! I thought now you realize that you shouldn’t waste your time on things that don’t make you happy?”

“What makes you think that torturing you all does not make me happy?” Zhengting smirked evilly, putting Justin into a playful chokehold.

“Zhengting ge!” Chengcheng’s voice sounded from down the hallway. His messy head appeared in the doorway. He didn’t even flinch when he had seen his boyfriend seemingly getting asphyxiated and Zhengting fleetingly thought how much this tells about their crazy little household. “Can I go and get your car? You said it will be ready today and we need something to get Zeren ge from the airport! Considering you are using his, this is only fair!”

“Like I would let you two drive my car to the airport and back!” Zhengting scoffed.

“Then leave Zeren’s car here for us!” Justin pouted. During the past two weeks, Zhengting had been using their absent roommate’s vehicle to commute and he had no intention of forfeiting it to the noisy kids just now. And also, Zeren himself had specifically told him that he’s the only one allowed to use it.

“Absolutely no way! Yanlei’s restaurant is not that far, you can walk. Or call Xinchun, he can give you all a ride there.”

“And what about Zeren? We just leave him on the airport, stranded?”

Zhengting took out his phone and went through his new messages until he found a particular one.

“Don’t worry,” he said, smirking mischievously. “He already has a ride back.”

A few hours later as he was double checking that every piece of clothing was bagged and put on the hangers to get them to the rooftop venue, his pocket buzzed with an incoming message.

**Zeren** : _WTH IS HE DOING HERE?????!!!!!!_

**Zeren** : _AND IN YOUR FKN CAR!_

**Zeren** : _Y IS HE IN A SUIT U DID THIS 2 ME ON PURPOSE GO BACK TO HELL ZHU ZHENGTING!!!_

He just shook his head and sent a brief text back:

_Don’t be late! Enjoy your ride. XXX_

 

Yanlei stopped dead on his track when the two of them reached the rooftop. Zhengting sort of knew what to expect, but he also had to stop for a moment when he saw the full transformation with his own eyes.

 “I didn’t think it would look this great!” he gasped. “Did your team really set this all up in one day? Amazing!”

The rooftop looked surprisingly clean. The slightly elevated runway was set up in the middle of the space, the light reflecting on its pristine white surface, the platform edges decorated with fluorescent pipes. The logo of Yuehua fashion was plastered to its end, also illuminated aesthetically while covering the backstage area. Leather chairs from the restaurant surrounded the stage, around them there were round tables covered with pristine white tablecloths and little centrepieces with freshly cut flowers. The bar was set up opposite to the elevator, Yanlei’s bartenders and waiters already busying themselves around them.

“What do you think?” An enthusiastic Xukun appeared near Zhengting’s elbow. “I had to bring in some heavy-duty lamps to properly illuminate the runway, but we made your fairy lights idea work otherwise. I think they should be enough for the party.”

“It looks amazing!” Zhengting smiled at the photographer, admiring the little led lights on strings hanging in a seemingly random pattern. “Are our models all set?”

“Yes, they’re all here, they’re in hair and make-up,” Ziyi said. “The weather is good, Cheng Xiao has people constantly looking the satellite reports, but no one expects rain or wind.”

“Ah, please let that be true!” Zhengting groaned. “And what about catering?”

“It should be all set, but I’ll check on them, just to make sure,” Yanlei said. The young chef looked very giddy, like he can barely contain his excitement. Zhengting couldn’t blame him: he felt a same way too, only he had more practice in hiding it. “I’m closing shop down there early today, I want my staff to focus on this. Can you imagine how great this could be for me? All these people, tasting my food, getting jealous of your supercool venue… I can’t wait to see what will happen!” Zhengting gave him a reassuring smile, leaving him to his preparations and disappeared into the tent which was the designated backstage area to start dressing up his models. If his step also had a little skip in them from happiness, no one would blame him for it.

 

The crowd ended up being much bigger than Zhengting’s usual audience. It seemed like the change of scenery and the charitable strategy seemed to work: more people had come out to see what Yuehua Fashion had in store than they did back when Zhengting took over and everyone came to his showing, mostly to watch him crash and burn. The thought occurred to him that these people here were expecting something like that to happen, but Zhengting wanted to be confident. He had already surprised everyone once, he should be able to do it again.

Despite the efforts he had made to make himself calm, by the time the show was scheduled to start, Zhengting was a frantic mess. He almost tried to dress the models into the wrong outfits and when Ziyi and his team took pity on him and finally took over, he almost went to meet the press in his old Gucci t-shirt and not-so-artistically faded jeans. The interviews went surprisingly well considering all this: Meiqi, who had been monitoring him worriedly had only had to interrupt him once, so he wouldn’t say the wrong thing and the journalists even laughed once or twice genuinely, so he managed to come across quite charming, he guessed and not like a lunatic who barely slept in days, which had been closer to the truth at that moment.

He practiced his opening speech so much that he could recite it any time of the day, so it didn’t seem like a problem that he barely realized when he had actually stepped on the platform. He said his words, he vaguely heard some clapping and then his models took over: all this seemed like a distant buzz to him.

As they were getting to the end, Zhengting slowly started to get his senses back, so he could register the people’s faces in the audience. Some people seemed to genuinely awed and enthusiastic, some even clapped when they saw a more spectacular piece. Some had whispered to their partners on the seat next to them, but even they seemed more intrigued than malicious. Relief flooded through Zhengting like a tide wave: people were actually liking the collection!

 

It seemed like it was barely a few minutes later when he was expected to go on stage once again, with all his models. The applause was so thunderous that he momentarily lost all his senses again: he remembered that he was supposed to thank people their help. Surprisingly enough, he managed to name everyone he wanted, which basically meant almost every employee and model of the company, as well as his closest family and friends. For some reason he accidentally thanked Yanchen too in a bizarre moment, since he noticed the mechanic sitting beside Zeren in the audience, looking pretty dashing and quite happy. By the time he finished his speech, he could barely hold himself back. He exited the stage accompanied by another roar of applause noticing that his roommates already waiting for him backstage with smiles on their faces. He practically threw himself at them and finally let the tears of relief flow.

It’s over. He has done it.

 

“All right, Zhengting,” a voice said as the designer excused himself from the circle of congratulators. He looked around to spot Qin Fen approaching, gripping the elbow of a flabbergasted Yanlei, Mubo smirking knowingly behind them. “I am very impressed. With both of you, to be honest. Food is great and the atmosphere is really pleasant. I overheard people that would be interested in organizing events in this place.”

Yanlei grinned widely.

“You changed your mind, didn’t you?” he asked the eldest eagerly. “Will you invest in my hotel?”

“Yes, I will,” Qin Fen nodded. “But you seriously need someone to oversee your interior design, this looks amazing, but I took a peek into the restaurant. It’s hideous.”

“Don’t worry, Fen ge,” Zhengting winked. “I will help. This will be also my interest after all.”

Yanlei looked at him surprised.

“You will invest as well?”

“Not as much as Fen ge and you, mind you,” Zhengting warned them. “But I have already started on the renovations for this event, haven’t I? I might as well see what this will become. And I will be hands on, you don’t have to worry, ge!”

“I thought you are not interested in investments outside of the fashion industry,” Mubo noted.

“Not really,” Zhengting admitted. “But I am interested in my friends.”

Qin Fen patted him on his shoulder, smiling warmly.

“That’s good to know,” he said, letting go of both Yanlei and Zhengting. “Now, Mumu and I will check out that lovely open bar of yours, if you excuse us. It seems like that ghastly Versace rep is planning to dry it out.”

Mubo laughed and went over to Zhengting to give him a hug.

“Will he be okay?” Zhengting asked silently when Mubo was close enough. His manager hummed in affirmation.

“He overheard Yue Yue thinking about investing in the place, he had to scoop in,” he shared with him while Qin Fen didn’t hear them. Zhengting laughed out happily and patted his ge once again, sending them off towards the bar.

Zhengting looked at Yanlei.

“Is it possible that I am forgiven then?” Zhengting asked, trying and failing in hiding the worry and guilt in his voice. Yanlei shook his head with a sigh, but he was smiling, that seemed like a good sign for Zhengting.

“How can I not forgive you after all this?” he said, his eyes a little bit teary as he enveloped Zhengting’s slim frame in a huge bear hug, squeezing tight. “Are you all right, Zhengzheng? I was so worried about you, but I was supposed to be mad at you, so I couldn’t even ask.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Zhengting chuckled as they let go of the hug.

“Well, it’s just I had just seen you talking to your boyfriend… well ex-boyfriend, I guess? So, I saw he is here with a new guy, how could he do that to you? Did he really dump you for that guy and came here flaunting their relationship?”

It took a few seconds for Zhengting to realize what Yanlei was talking about. Then, he realized that he was just talking to a very enthusiastic Zhangjing and Yanjun and how it must have looked like to Yanlei.

“Oh, of course. Everything is fine,” He reassured the worried chef quickly. “Well, the truth is it was more the other way around… Yanjun almost dumped Zhangjing for me, but their misunderstandings had been cleared in the end. And…” he realized that he should explain himself further. “I can’t really be happier for the two of them, they are both good friends of mine.”

“Oh, okay then,” Yanlei nodded. “I guess it wasn’t that serious with the two of you then?”

“Not at all.”

“Then why were you in such a funky mood for the past few months?”

Zhengting didn’t answer immediately, surprised yet again that how observant Yanlei can be without actually seeing the real picture. He just smiled at him and reassured him that it was just the stress at work, nothing more before he fled towards the table where he spotted a certain photographer with a very dashing looking mechanic.

“What happened to the not meddling with my life, ge?” Zeren asked immediately as he approach the couple, taking a seat beside them at the table.

“I don’t know what you mean. I did nothing, I just asked my mechanic to deliver my car,” Zhengting said with a fake confused expression on his face.

“With a little detour of course,” Yanchen added cheekily.

“Ah ha... It also perfectly makes sense that you would accidentally mark me down whit a plus one.”

“Mubo ge must have made a mistake. You cannot prove anything.”

Zeren smiled warmly and enveloped Zhengting in a huge hug.

“So, what happened?” Zhengting asked excitedly.

“Yeah, what happened?” a wild Justin appeared over Zhengting’s shoulder ogling Yanchen and Zeren’s intertwined hands suspiciously. “And I meant to ask what the hell Ling Chi’s New Year’s Eve boy is doing here with you.”

“He is my boy, not Ling Chi’s!” Zeren snapped at the younger. When he realized what he said he blushed crimson red and tried to hide his face behind Yanchen’s shoulder, who just smiled dopily at them.

“Is he now?” Zhengting questioned teasingly.

“Am I?” Yanchen asked. Zeren lifted his head, resting his chin still on Yanchen’s arm, looking up at the older sheepishly.

“Do you not want to be?”

“Well, what do you think? Why else would I be here?” Yanchen shrugged, turning towards Zeren and giving him a quick kiss before turning back towards them. “I would like you all to know that everything that happened in the past four months had been a bizarrely huge misunderstanding. Zeren and I talked it over before we arrived and now I ask all of you to give your blessing to our relationship.”

“Hey, who cares what they say?” Zeren looked at him incredulously.

“I asked for blessing, not permission,” Yanchen reminded him. “I love you and they love you as well. I have to be accepted.”

Zhengting chuckled. “I guess my blessing is rather redundant. Though of course, Yanchen driving my car to the airport around the time your plane arrived was a total coincidence,” He winked.

“Hey! Yanchen can drive your car while we can’t? How is that fair?” Chengcheng complained loudly. “Wait a minute... Yanchen? Are you that Yanchen?”

“The I-don’t-want-anything-serious Yanchen?”  Quanzhe asked in disbelief.

“The I’m-gonna-break-Zeren’s-heart-on-his-birthday Yanchen?” Justin added to line of questioning bitterly.

“And you approve, Zhengting?” Xinchun gasped with eyes as wide as saucers.

Zhengting just nodded.

“I met Yanchen when I was in that little accident and he told me everything, I believed him. And Zeren believes him too, I assume?”

The two of them nodded, smiling besotted.

“And are you together finally?”

“Yes, we will see what will come out of this,” Zeren nodded. “I am going to be sent to Hunan for a trip by that magazine and Yanchen agreed to accompany me.”

“The magazine? You accepted the offer?” Quanzhe asked, his face lit up.

“Yes.” Their little group all cheered after Zeren’s affirmation.

“Does that mean that you’re moving back?” Chengcheng practically yelled into Zeren’s face, panting with excitement.

Zeren smirked and waited a bit, before he nodded just to tease them.

The circle exploded. Zhengting looked around nervously, worried his business partners were not drunk enough just yet to ignore their little noisy group, but Yanlei did a good job with the bar.

“Well, if while we’re at the topic of moving here and there,” Xinchun started nervously, looking at Dinghao beside him. Zhengting turned his head towards them so fast that he almost gave himself whiplash. Dinghao just rolled his eyes and took over.

“Xinchun got his promotion,” Dinghao told them. The table cheered, Zhengting and his children congratulating their ex-roommate enthusiastically. “So, we thought we would start a bigger renovation on the apartment.”

Zhengting gasped happily. He had a hunch where this was going. Xinchun looked at him and finally smiled, confirming Zhengting’s suspicion.

“I don’t even know why I was nervous asking you about this,” he shook his head, laughing.

“About what?” Chengcheng looked confused. Zhengting ignored him and shot up from his seat to walk towards his little brother and squeezing him in a hug, borderline chokehold.

“Of course, you two can come back!” Zhengting shouted in Xinchun’s ear happily. “As long as you want, your room is still there! And Dinghao will be joining us as well, finally!”

Zhengting’s eyes – not for the first time this evening, if he was honest with himself – was instinctively searching for Wenjun’s gaze. He knew the model would smile at him knowingly, sharing his happiness and later on commenting how “I told you it would work out eventually and don’t intervene with their decision” and Zhengting would reluctantly agree with an eyeroll, telling him he was right and would hug him close…

Zhengting shook his head: there was no point in thinking about all this. Wenjun wasn’t there and wouldn’t be. These thoughts just pain him even more, ruining an otherwise happy night. He caught Justin’s gaze, looking at him worriedly before he turned away slapping Xinchun on the shoulder jovially.

“Yeah, but you should know we agreed that the last one that moved in will be paying for the maid, so…” he said, sniggering.

“We are not getting a maid!” Zhengting snapped, while the others laughed.

 

The party seemed to last forever: it was already four in the morning by the time the last guests had left. Zhengting knew he should be leaving as well, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave just yet. He had a hard time processing that the night was over: he worked so much on this night and though it was almost perfect in the end, he still felt like he didn’t want it to end, even as the riggers had started to disassemble the stage and packed away the decoration. He just sat on one of the crates that stored their sound equipment and stubbornly stared at his own dangling feet refusing to acknowledge everything around him.

He was trying to figure out why he wasn’t happy just yet, as he heard voice speak in front of him.

“You are the most selfish bastard to ever walk on planet Earth.”

Zhengting thought his ears were playing tricks on him. He didn’t even look up; he was too scared that he was imagining hearing this particular voice. He only saw the familiar pair of trainers, faded jeans on skinny legs as a folded paper landed in his lap. He reached for it with trembling hands. The paper was a ripped-out page of a notebook that was already softening at the folding lines as if it was folded and unfolded very often. As he looked at it and softly unfolded it, he realized it wasn’t just a notebook, it was a sketchbook, his sketchbook. It was the page with his sister’s wedding dress.

The page with his sappy little note.

Zhengting didn’t dare to look up: when he finally opened his mouth, he was talking to his own knees.

“I didn’t think you would find it.”

“Well, I think I found it too late.”

Slowly, the legs in front of Zhengting had folded into a kneeling position. His hands steadied themselves on Zhengting’s trembling knees, slowly peering up so his face would be in Zhengting’s eyeline. As his face came into Zhengting’s vision, the older couldn’t hold back his tears anymore.

He looked so perfect: his face healthy, handsome and cute, as always. Zhengting had thought about him so much over the past months, but it was like he only just realized how much he missed him, it came over him with a tide wave of emotions.

One of Wenjun’s hand reached up and he gently wiped the tears of Zhengting’s cheek while slowly lifting up his head as he himself straightened his back, moving closer. They were now face to face with Zhengting sitting on the crate, Wenjun on his knees in front of him, just looking at each other.

“Well,” Zhengting said in a quiet, trembling voice. “You are certainly late for the party.”

“Hmm… I should have been here much earlier, that’s true,” Wenjun nodded slightly, his eyes never leaving Zhengting’s, even though the elder still tried to avert his. “Much… much earlier. But from where I stand, I didn’t miss the most important thing.”

Zhengting blushed deeply and then couldn’t help but laugh. Was he really blushing in front of the man who knew him more than anyone in this world? How can this be even more ridiculous? His heart was beating fast, as if it was planning to break through his ribcage.

“Even though he is a selfish bastard?” he asked, quoting him back.

“Maybe even more so because of that,” Wenjun smiled as he leaned forward even closer, softly brushing their faces together, taking in the scent of Zhengting’s skin as their lips met slowly.

As far as first kisses go, this one was spectacular in a way that it was not uncomfortable or strange at all. It was like they have been doing this dance forever, like the meeting of their lips had already been a pleasant, daily past-time activity: something they have a lot of practice in but never get tired of doing.

_It just feels right_ , Zhengting thought as he move his mouth in sync with Wenjun’s, his hands raising slowly to cradle the younger’s head, to card through the soft locks like the thousand times he had done it before in situations that were just different, yet not so different. He always felt the intimacy between them, he guessed.

Zhengting didn’t know how much time went by before they separated, Wenjun’s face still lingering just a breath away from his, diving back for more, giving Zhengting chaste little kisses over and over again, but eventually, the model pulled away.

“I tried to be cross with you for not saying anything, but I couldn’t,” he admitted abruptly.

 “I am not going to apologize,” Zhengting told him seriously, but with a soft smile on his face. “I still think that I did the right thing. You said it yourself: you were only here because of me. That shouldn’t be enough for you. You needed to find yourself. I needed that as well.”

“Well, I wasn’t right about that, was I?” Wenjun said. Zhengting just looked at him confused. He was still painfully aware of the model’s hand laying on his cheek, his face a couple of inches away from his, but he was way too interested in what Wenjun was going to say to get distracted. “I have a life here as well. It might have been that I met everyone here through you, but they are still my friends. I guess I just didn’t recognize it until I moved away, and I found myself wondering about everyone and all the fun you would have, and I am not there to keep you in check. And I might have annoyed Zeren too much about how much I missed you all,” he admitted rather sheepishly in the end.

“Zeren missed us all just as much as you did, he didn’t even mention your whining,” Zhengting interrupted him. “Of course, I just enjoyed here that no one was nagging me.”

“Really?” Wenjun asked, not believing him for a second.

 “Oh, why I even try to pretend, I was miserable with you away, anyone would tell you! Are you happy?” Zhengting snapped angrily. Wenjun just laughed.

“Do you think it was that easy for me?” he asked. “Every time I went over to Ge’s to play with the baby, all I could hear is that damned recording of you singing the lullaby, it was like they were keen on torturing me! I committed myself to not be weak and not come to this show, because I knew I would be lost forever if I don’t stay away. But I heard the song again and I hesitated and snooped into your bedroom, just to find this ridiculous love letter of yours on the floor beside the table, like the sappy little pre-teen school girl you are.”

“That wasn’t a love letter!” Zhengting protested. “It was just something I wanted to say, but I didn’t! I private note to myself, not for you, you oaf!”

“Well, if I haven’t found it, I wouldn’t have been here right now, still convincing myself that you would never feel the same way about me as I feel about you.”

Zhengting sniffed a little and wiped the rest of the tears from his eyes as he smiled back.

“Well,” he said. “Are you unconvinced enough yet?”

“Hmm… I am not quite sure about that just yet,” Wenjun smirked as he leaned in yet again.

“Will you come back to my place?” Zhengting mumbled when they were just a breath away again. He really didn’t mean for it to come out as suggestive as it sounded in the end. Not that he wouldn’t mind if they would end up going all the way tonight, but Zhengting found himself – probably for the first time in a very long time – not caring about sex that much. He just wanted Wenjun close: as close as possible for as long as possible.

“Well, considering I sort of cancelled the lease on my apartment here, I don’t really have anywhere else to go, do I?”

Zhengting smiled.

“I am sure we can figure something out. You know how much I hate when people invade my home and think they can just live there for free,” He said, then silencing Wenjun’s answering laugh rather thoroughly.

This time they were separated quite abruptly when one of Zhengting’s riggers had coughed awkwardly because they wanted to take away the crate he was sitting on. They both laughed and blushed deep red as they stumbled up, Wenjun’s knees croaking painfully in the process:

“Come on, let’s get out of here before Yanlei closes the building on us.”

As they walked towards the elevator, with the riggers, they squeezed in with a few of the equipment and some staffers, Zhengting enjoying the fact that he was pressed tightly between Wenjun and the elevator wall, the taller one’s arms tightly around him, his head resting on his own.

“I wish I didn’t miss the food though,” Wenjun quipped as they waited for the slow descend to end.

“Oh, poor thing,” Zhengting raised his head, pouting up at the model. “Let’s ask Yanlei if there is anything left. If I tell him that I have a best friend to feed, he would understand.”

Wenjun’s body tensed against Zhengting’s slightly, but the designer noticed and quickly realized his mistake “I know, I hate that term too. You are so much more than that. It sounds so trivial, but… you are my best friend.” Zhengting still struggled with worry for adding the last sentence. “And more.”

“Maybe boyfriend?” Wenjun suggested hesitantly.

“Nah, that’s even more trivial,” Zhengting scrunched up his face. “It sounds so fleeting; it doesn’t fit us.”

“Then who am I to you, exactly?” Wenjun chuckled without taking any real offense.

“You are… just Wenjun.”

“Just Wenjun?”

“No, you are right. Not just Wenjun,” Zhengting smirked teasingly. “You are my Wenjun.”

Wenjun smiled at him sweetly.

“That’s sounds incredibly right, Zhengzheng.”

 

 

“Did you seriously write a love letter, ge?” Quanzhe asked a few nights later, when Wenjun and Zhengting finally decided to engage with rest of residents of the penthouse instead of staying in the blissful bubble that the master suite provided for them.

Zhengting – as much overtime he had put in for the last few months – had decided that he deserves a little break and Wenjun was more than happy to oblige joining him in his lazing around only emerging to get food and then going back to their own little world, where there was only the two of them.

“Typical Zhengting,” Justin rolled his eyes. “So over the top and dramatic, I wrote it into almost every fanfic I wrote about you.”

“For the last time, it wasn’t meant to be a love letter!” Zhengting whined. “You set me up with this!” He turned towards his Wenjun, who was sitting right behind him in the ancient armchair in his living room. Wenjun just chuckled and circled his waist with his arms, to pull him back against himself, letting out a contented smile when his front met Zhengting’s back again.

“It’s all right, it wouldn’t have been you if it wasn’t over the top and dramatic,” he said.

“Awww… that’s sweet, Wenjun ge,” Chengcheng said. “But I still can’t believe you’re just moving in like that. Finally, the whole gang is going to live together! And of course, you will live here too, Hao ge.”

Dinghao rolled his eyes,

 Xinchun glared sent a vicious glare towards Chengcheng as he turned to his boyfriend.

“Nothing, you are perfect like this,” he said, leaning in for a chaste kiss, making the elder one smile happily. Dinghao seemed to feel rather embarrassed when they separated, so he turned towards Zhengting and Wenjun nervously.

“And what will you do with the rest of your vacation?”

“Well, we are going to Beijing, I want to see our niece,” Zhengting explained. “But that’s going to be it for now.”

“Yeah, I wanted to lure him outside the country for once, since I am going to Japan for a week, but…”

“I can’t miss more than two weeks from work,” Zhengting interrupted apologetically. “I am planning to hand down some of my responsibilities so I could focus more on designing and relaxing but there still going to be a busy transition period.”

“It all right,” Wenjun nodded, stroking Zhengting’s hair absentmindedly. “I waited much longer to have you all to myself, these few weeks won’t count as much.” He gave the CEO a kiss. “It will just make our first overseas trip even more special in the summer.”

“Where will you go?” Justin asked.

“Paris,” the couple said at the same time, both grinning ear to ear.

“Of course, you would, you sappy idiots!” Chengcheng rolled his eyes. Zhengting scowled at him childishly but without any real malice: they all knew how Zhengting’s dream country was France, they just liked to tease him.

“Don’t mind him, he is just jealous!” Xinchun dismissed him. “This trip will overlap with I assume?”

“Of course,” Wenjun nodded. “It’s about time people get to see the genius behind the best collection in this year so far.”

“And said genius’ insanely decorative arm candy,” Zhengting winked mischievously.

“Then it’s not really a holiday, isn’t it?” Justin asked, furrowing his brows. “You two will be working.”

“Not for the whole time!” Zhengting protested. “This is more like having the best of both worlds situation.”

“And you two can enjoy your inner exhibitionist selves, I get it,” Justin teased. Zhengting reached over to where he was sitting with one of his legs and pushed his head forcibly. Justin cowered into Chengcheng for protection.

Quanzhe groaned out loud.

“Where is Zeren ge? I can’t take all the couples here anymore!” he whined.

“On a date. Again,” Wenjun and Zhengting chorused in sync, giggling in the end.

“And he wouldn’t be much help to you Zhezhe…” Chengcheng patted his cheek. “He is just as bad with Yanchen ge as we all are and he is barely around without him anyway.”

“It sucks to be single!” Quanzhe whined.

Zhengting smiled as and idea came to him.

“Nu-uh,” Wenjun said in his ear, only for him to hear. “Don’t even think about it!”

“Too late, Xiao Jun, too late,” Zhengting said. “I already know who is next.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, I can't believe I actually finished something, it's crazy. Sorry for the insanely sappy ending, but seriously, I just felt like that these two would just be this sappy all the time. I mean, they are kind of like this in real life too, to be honest. But anyway, I still felt cringey, while writing it.
> 
> Fun Fact: The line about Wenjun being "my Wenjun" is someting I really wanted to include because it is I think the cheesiest line Jane Austin ever used in any of her novels (not with Wenjun, but with Knigthley, obviously). I actually planned it to be the story's actual title, but then my sister pointed out that it's not THAT obvious from the beginning that they are endgame if you don't know the original work and I should find another title that is not a spoiler but still a nod towards Emma as well, so that's why I chose my favourite modern adaptation of this book I've encountered so far. The whole thing is on YouTube, I strongly advise everyone to watch it. Again.
> 
> I guess this took so much time to actually post, because it feels so final now like this and I'm not ready to say goodbye to my story just yet? It's silly, I know. This was only supposed to be a little practice for me, just a one-shot to actually see if I am capable of writing not so long stories. I failed. But I still spent so much time developing this AU and I have like a bunch of ideas what I want to write, so I might make this into a series. For example, I feel like we are missing a Wenjun POV companion piece and I have a pretty solid storyline plotted out, which would be a sort of prequel, because my sister was complaining about the lack of Chengstin in both here and my other AU as well. But considering how bad I am to actually sticking to a regular update schedule and I really want to finish Finding Serenity first, I will put these ideas on hold for now. But anyways, let me know if you would be interested in this stuff as well.
> 
> And finally I would really like to thank all of you for sticking around and read the actual end of this mess. Thank you for all the kudos and comments, you kept me motivated. I didn'nt expect that anyone would like my writing at all, and the support gave me a big push on actually trying to work harder and become better at this thing.
> 
> Love you all! Bye.

**Author's Note:**

> That's it for now, I hope you enjoyed. The rest of it is coming soon, depending on how fast my awesome beta can battle through my incoherence.
> 
> Comments and Kudos are much appretiated!
> 
> Also, if any of you found yourself here from my other story, I didn't abandon it, I promise! This was supposed to be a little writing excercise before I try to write a much more convoluted plotline... well, I obviously still have a lot to practice XD


End file.
